Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
O Lord, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to (A)The Sheminith.[a] A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (B)rebuke me not in your anger,
nor (C)discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
(D)heal me, O Lord, (E)for my bones are troubled.
3 My (F)soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O Lord—(G)how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in (H)death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four men who were lepers[a] (A)at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians (B)hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us (C)the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 (D)So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.”
14 Therefore, my beloved, (A)flee from idolatry. 15 I speak (B)as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 (C)The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? (D)The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are (E)one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider (F)the people of Israel:[a] (G)are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that (H)an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice (I)they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 (J)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and (K)the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and (L)the table of demons. 22 (M)Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? (N)Are we stronger than he?
Do All to the Glory of God
23 (O)“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 (P)Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 (Q)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For (R)“the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, (S)eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean (T)your conscience, but his. For (U)why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that (V)for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or (W)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 (X)Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to (Y)the church of God, 33 just as (Z)I try to please everyone in everything I do, (AA)not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
11 (AB)Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.