Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy
To the Chief Musician. (A)On [a]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
12 Help,[b] Lord, for the godly man (B)ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 (C)They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and [c]a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord [d]cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks [e]proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are (D)pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
10 (A)The soul of the wicked desires evil;
His neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
But when the (B)wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
12 The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked,
Overthrowing the wicked for their wickedness.
13 (C)Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be heard.
14 A gift in secret pacifies anger,
And a bribe [a]behind the back, strong wrath.
15 It is a joy for the just to do justice,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding
Will rest in the assembly of the (D)dead.
Beware of the Scribes(A)
45 (B)Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, 46 (C)“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, (D)love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 47 (E)who devour widows’ houses, and for a (F)pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Two Mites(G)
21 And He looked up (H)and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain (I)poor widow putting in two (J)mites.[a] 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you (K)that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings [b]for God, but she out of her poverty put in (L)all the livelihood that she had.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.