Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Mem

The Nation Confesses

9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites^[a] gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them. ² Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.^{[b] 3} They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law^[c] of Yahweh their God for a fourth part of the day, and for a fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God. ⁴ Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani stood on the platform of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God. ⁵ Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, “Stand up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting until everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name that is being exalted above all blessing and praise!

⁶ “You alone are Yahweh. You alone have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all of their army, the earth and all that is in it, the waters and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the army of the heavens worship you. ⁷ You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—to give it to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

⁹ “You saw the misery of our ancestors^[d] in Egypt, and you heard their shout at the Red Sea. ¹⁰ You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day. ¹¹ And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters. ¹² You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go. ¹³ Then you came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right judgments and true teachings, good regulations and commandments. ¹⁴ You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and law^[e] by the hand of your servant Moses. ¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

²¹ being subject to one another out of reverence for^[a] Christ ²² —wives to their own husbands as to the Lord, ²³ because the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church (he himself being the Savior of the body). ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, thus also wives should be subject^[b] to their husbands in everything.

Husbands and Wives

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her; ²⁶ in order that he might sanctify her by cleansing her^[c] with the washing of water by the word; ²⁷ in order that he might present to himself the church glorious, not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she may be holy and blameless. ²⁸ Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[d] 32} (This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.) ³³ Only you also, each one of you, must thus love his own wife as himself, and the wife must respect^[e] her husband.

Children and Parents

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first^[f] commandment with a promise), ³ “in order that it may be well with you, and you may live a long time^[g] on the earth.”^{[h] 4} And fathers, do not make your children angry, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves and Masters

⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, ⁶ not while being watched^[i], as people pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ serving with goodwill as to the Lord and not to people, ⁸ because you^[j] know that each one of you, whatever good he should do,^[k] this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. ⁹ And masters, do the same things to them, giving up threats, knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.