Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Prayer of Someone in Exile ^(A)

The Lord Reprimands the Priests

⁶ The Lord Almighty says to the priests, “Children honor their parents, and servants honor their masters. I am your father—why don't you honor me? I am your master—why don't you respect me? You despise me, and yet you ask, ‘How have we despised you?’ ⁷ This is how—by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we failed to respect you?’ I will tell you—by showing contempt for my altar. ^8 (A)When you bring a blind or sick or lame animal to sacrifice to me, do you think there's nothing wrong with that? Try giving an animal like that to the governor! Would he be pleased with you or grant you any favors?”

⁹ Now, you priests, try asking God to be good to us. He will not answer your prayer, and it will be your fault. ¹⁰ The Lord Almighty says, “I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so as to prevent you from lighting useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you; I will not accept the offerings you bring me. ¹¹ People from one end of the world to the other honor me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices. All of them honor me! ¹² But you dishonor me when you say that my altar is worthless and when you offer on it food that you despise. ¹³ You say, ‘How tired we are of all this!’ and you turn up your nose at me. As your offering to me you bring a stolen animal or one that is lame or sick. Do you think I will accept that from you? ¹⁴ A curse on the cheater who sacrifices a worthless animal to me, when he has in his flock a good animal that he promised to give me! For I am a great king, and people of all nations fear me.”

2 The Lord Almighty says to the priests, “This command is for you: ² You must honor me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously. ³ I will punish your children and rub your faces in the dung of the animals you sacrifice—and you will be taken out to the dung heap. ^4 (B)Then you will know that I have given you this command, so that my covenant with the priests, the descendants of Levi, will not be broken.

^5 (C)“In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me. ⁶ They taught what was right, not what was wrong. They lived in harmony with me; they not only did what was right themselves, but they also helped many others to stop doing evil. ⁷ It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the Lord Almighty.

⁸ “But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong. You have broken the covenant I made with you. ⁹ So I, in turn, will make the people of Israel despise you because you do not obey my will, and when you teach my people, you do not treat everyone alike.”

Jesus Condemns Their Hypocrisy^(A)

¹³ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter! ^14 [a]

¹⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

¹⁶ “How terrible for you, blind guides! You teach, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’ ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ You also teach, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy? ²⁰ So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it; ²¹ and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there; ^22 (B)and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it.

^23 (C)“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!

²⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too!

^27 (D)“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.