Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 6

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.^[a]

Outcasts Visit the Enemy Camp

³ Now there were four men with leprosy^[a] sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. ⁴ “We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.”

⁵ So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! ⁶ For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians^[b] to attack us!” they cried to one another. ⁷ So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives.

⁸ When the men with leprosy arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it. ⁹ Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.”

¹⁰ So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn’t a single person around!”

¹⁴ So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. ¹⁵ You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. ¹⁶ When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. ¹⁸ Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?

¹⁹ What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? ²⁰ No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. ²¹ You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. ²² What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?

²³ You say, “I am allowed to do anything”^[a]—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. ²⁴ Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.

²⁵ So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. ²⁶ For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”^[b]

²⁷ If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. ²⁸ (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. ²⁹ It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? ³⁰ If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?

³¹ So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ³² Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles^[c] or the church of God. ³³ I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. 11 ¹ And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.