Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 130
Awaiting Redemption
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I call to You, Yahweh!(A)
2 Lord, listen to my voice;
let Your ears be attentive
to my cry for help.(B)
3 Yahweh, if You considered sins,
Lord, who could stand?(C)
4 But with You there is forgiveness,
so that You may be revered.(D)
9 Who is he[a] trying to teach?
Who is he[b] trying to instruct?
Infants[c] just weaned from milk?
Babies[d] removed from the breast?
10 For he says: “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”[e][f]
11 So He will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.(A)
12 He had said to them:
“This is the place of rest,
let the weary rest;(B)
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
End-Time Ethics
7 Now the end of all things is near;(A) therefore, be serious and disciplined(B) for prayer. 8 Above all, maintain an intense love(C) for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.(D)[a] 9 Be hospitable(E) to one another without complaining. 10 Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others,(F) as good managers of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides,(G) so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Christian Suffering
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal[b] comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.(H) 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah,(I) so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation(J) of His glory. 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ,(K) you are blessed, because the Spirit(L) of glory and of God rests on you.[c] 15 None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.[d] 16 But if anyone suffers as a “Christian,” he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. 17 For the time has come for judgment(M) to begin with God’s household,(N) and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?(O)[e]
19 So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves(P) to a faithful Creator.
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