Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise him, you who serve the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let us praise the name of the Lord,
both now and forever.
3 From the sunrise in the east to the sunset in the west,
may the name of the Lord be praised.
4 The Lord is honored over all the nations.
His glory reaches to the highest heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God?
He sits on his throne in heaven.
6 He bends down to look
at the heavens and the earth.
7 He raises poor people up from the trash pile.
He lifts needy people out of the ashes.
8 He causes them to sit with princes.
He causes them to sit with the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who doesn’t have any children.
He makes her a happy mother in her own home.
Praise the Lord.
Laws About Mercy and Fairness
23 “Do not spread reports that are false. Do not help a guilty person by telling lies in court.
2 “Do not follow the crowd when they do what is wrong. When you are a witness in court, do not turn what is right into what is wrong. Do not go along with the crowd. 3 Do not show favor to a poor person in court.
4 “Suppose you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away. Then be sure to return it. 5 Suppose you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has fallen down under its load. Then do not leave it there. Be sure you help them with it.
6 “Be fair to your poor people in their court cases. 7 Do not have anything to do with a false charge. Do not put to death people not guilty of doing anything wrong. I will not let guilty people go free.
8 “Do not take money from people who want special favors. It makes you blind to the truth. It twists the words of good people.
9 “Do not treat outsiders badly. You yourselves know how it feels to be outsiders. Remember, you were outsiders in Egypt.
God Is Faithful
3 Is there any advantage in being a Jew? Is there any value in being circumcised? 2 There is great value in every way! First of all, the Jews have been given the very words of God.
3 What if some Jews were not faithful? Will the fact that they weren’t faithful keep God from being faithful? 4 Not at all! God is true, even if every human being is a liar. It is written,
“You are right when you sentence me.
You are fair when you judge me.” (Psalm 51:4)
5 Doesn’t the fact that we are wrong prove more clearly that God is right? Then what can we say? Can we say that God is not fair when he brings his anger down on us? As you can tell, I am just using human ways of thinking. 6 God is certainly fair! If he weren’t, how could he judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “When I lie, it becomes clearer that God is truthful. It makes his glory shine more brightly. Why then does he find me guilty of sin?” 8 Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will happen”? Some people actually lie by reporting that this is what we say. They are the ones who will rightly be found guilty.
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