Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
מ Mem
97 Lord, I really love your law!
All day long I spend time thinking about it.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commands are always in my heart.
99 I know more than all my teachers do,
because I spend time thinking about your covenant laws.
100 I understand more than the elders do,
because I obey your rules.
101 I’ve kept my feet from every path that sinners take
so that I might obey your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your laws,
because you yourself have taught me.
103 Your words are very sweet to my taste!
They are sweeter than honey to me.
104 I gain understanding from your rules.
So I hate every path that sinners take.
Wisdom and Foolishness Call Out
9 Wisdom has built her house.
She has set up its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine.
She has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants.
She calls out from the highest point of the city.
4 She says, “Let all who are childish come to my house!”
She speaks to those who have no sense. She says,
5 “Come and eat my food.
Drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your childish ways and you will live.
Walk in the way of understanding.”
7 When you correct someone who makes fun of others, you might be laughed at.
When you warn a sinner, you might get hurt.
8 Don’t warn those who make fun of others, or they will hate you.
Warn those who are wise, and they will love you.
9 Teach a wise person, and they will become even wiser.
Teach a person who does right, and they will learn even more.
10 If you want to become wise, you must begin by respecting the Lord.
To know the Holy One is to gain understanding.
11 Through wisdom, you will live a long time.
Years will be added to your life.
12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you.
If you make fun of others, you alone will suffer.
13 The woman called Foolishness is wild.
She is childish and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house.
She sits at the highest point of the city.
15 She calls out to those who pass by.
She calls out to those who go straight on their way. She says,
16 “Let all who are childish come to my house!”
She speaks to those who have no sense.
17 She says, “Stolen water is sweet.
Food eaten in secret tastes good!”
18 But they don’t know that dead people are there.
They don’t know that her guests are deep in the place of the dead.
2 My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One. 2 He gave his life to pay for our sins. But he not only paid for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world.
Instructions About Loving and Hating Other Believers
3 We know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands. 4 Suppose someone says, “I know him.” But suppose this person does not do what God commands. Then this person is a liar and is not telling the truth. 5 But if anyone obeys God’s word, then that person truly loves God. Here is how we know we belong to him. 6 Those who claim to belong to him must live just as Jesus did.
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.