Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance
For the music director; with stringed instruments, on the Sheminith.[a]
A psalm of David.[b]
6 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger,
and do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
3 My soul is also very terrified.
But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life.[c]
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[d]
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death.
In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
6 I am weary with my groaning;
I flood[e] my bed every night.
With my tears I drench[f] my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation;
it grows old because of all my oppressors.
8 Depart from me, all workers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified.
They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.
Four Lepers Report the Departure of the Arameans
3 Now four men who had a skin disease were at the entrance of the gate, and they said to each other,[a] “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; but if we sit here, we shall die. So then, come, let us fall into the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we shall live; but if they kill us, then we shall die.” 5 So they got up at dusk to go to the camp of the Arameans. They went up to the edge of the camp of the Arameans, and look, there was no man there! 6 Now the Lord had caused the camp of the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, the sound of horses, and the sound of a great army. So they said to one another,[b] “Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us!” 7 So they got up and fled at dusk and left their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and the camp as it was, and they fled for their lives. 8 When these who had the skin disease came to the edge of the camp, they went into a certain tent and they ate, drank, and took from there silver and gold and clothes. Then they went and hid them, then returned and came to another tent, and they took from there and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another,[c] “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news! If we are silent and wait until the light of morning, they will find us and we will be punished.[d] So then, come, let us go and tell the house of the king.” 10 When they came, they called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no man or the voice of a man there! Only the horses and the donkeys were tied up, and the tents were left as they were.”
Warning Against Idolatry
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you judge what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share from the one bread. 18 Consider Israel according to the flesh: are not the ones who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 Therefore, what am I saying? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but that the things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers with demons. 21 You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You are not able to share the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we attempting to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?[a]
Freedom in Christ
23 All things are permitted, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted, but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good[b] but the good of the other. 25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions[c] for the sake of the conscience, 26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”[d] 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you, and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, asking no questions[e] for the sake of the conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is offered to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of that one who informed you and the conscience. 29 Now I am not speaking about your own conscience, but the conscience of the other person. For why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense[f] both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all people in all things, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of the many, in order that they may be saved.
Concerning Head Coverings in Worship
11 Become imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
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