Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
41 Show me your love
and save me, Lord,
as you have promised.
42 Then I will have an answer
for everyone who insults me
for trusting your word.
43 I rely on your laws!
Don't take away my chance
to speak your truth.
44 I will keep obeying your Law
forever and ever.
45 I have gained perfect freedom
by following your teachings,
46 and I trust them so much
that I tell them to kings.
47 I love your commands!
They bring me happiness.
48 I love and respect them
and will keep them in mind.
The Most Important Commandment
Moses said to Israel:
6 The Lord told me to give you these laws and teachings,[a] so you can obey them in the land he is giving you. Soon you will cross the Jordan River and take that land. 2 And if you and your descendants want to live a long time, you must always worship the Lord and obey his laws. 3 Pay attention, Israel! Our ancestors worshiped the Lord, and he promised to give us this land that is rich with milk and honey. Be careful to obey him, and you will become a successful and powerful nation.
4 (A) Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only true God![b] 5 (B) So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. 6 (C) Memorize his laws 7 and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. 8 Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. 9 Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.
20 Someday your children will ask, “Why did the Lord give us these laws and teachings?”
21 Then you will answer:
We were slaves of the king of Egypt, but the Lord used his great power and set us free. 22 We saw him perform miracles and make horrible things happen to the king, his officials, and everyone else. 23 The Lord rescued us from Egypt, so he could bring us into this land, as he had promised our ancestors. 24-25 That's why the Lord our God demands that we obey his laws and worship him with fear and trembling. And if we do, he will protect us and help us be successful.
8 (A) You will do all right, if you obey the most important law[a] in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. 9 But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.
10 (B) If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all. 11 (C) The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law.
12 Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. 13 Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful![b]
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