Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 119^[a]

א alef

30 Now, once all these things happen to you, the blessing and the curse that I’m setting before you, you must call them to mind as you sit among the various nations where the Lord your God has driven you; ² and you must return to the Lord your God, obeying his voice, in line with all that I’m commanding you right now—you and your children—with all your mind and with all your being. ³ Then the Lord your God will restore you as you were before and will have compassion on you, gathering you up from all the peoples where the Lord your God scattered you. ⁴ Even if he has driven you to the far end of heaven, the Lord your God will gather you up from there; he will take you back from there. ⁵ The Lord your God will bring you home to the land that your ancestors possessed; you will possess it again. And he will do good things for you and multiply you—making you more numerous even than your ancestors!

⁶ Then the Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants so that you love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your being in order that you may live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and chase you. ⁸ But you will change and obey the Lord’s voice and do all his commandments that I’m commanding you right now. ⁹ The Lord your God will help you succeed in everything you do—in your own fertility, your livestock’s offspring, and your land’s produce—everything will be great! Because the Lord will once again enjoy doing good things for you just as he enjoyed doing them for your ancestors,

Rules from the elders

15 Then Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why are your disciples breaking the elders’ rules handed down to us? They don’t ritually purify their hands by washing before they eat.”

³ Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you? ⁴ For God said, Honor your father and your mother,^[a] and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death.^{[b] 5} But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother, “Everything I’m expected to contribute to you I’m giving to God as a gift,”then you don’t have to honor your father.’ ⁶ So you do away with God’s Law for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you. ⁷ Hypocrites! Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you, ⁸ This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. ⁹ Their worship of me is empty since they teach instructions that are human rules.”^[c]