); Isaiah 49:13-23 (God comforts the suffering); Matthew 18:1-14 (Become like a child) (English Standard Version Anglicised)
Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise the Name of the Lord
148 (A)Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord (B)from the heavens;
praise him (C)in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his (D)hosts!
3 Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you (E)highest heavens,
and you (F)waters above the heavens!
5 (G)Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For (H)he commanded and they were created.
6 And he (I)established them for ever and ever;
he gave (J)a decree, and it shall not (K)pass away.[a]
7 Praise the Lord (L)from the earth,
you (M)great sea creatures and all deeps,
8 (N)fire and hail, (O)snow and mist,
(P)stormy wind (Q)fulfilling his word!
9 (R)Mountains and all hills,
(S)fruit trees and all (T)cedars!
10 (U)Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and (V)flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and (W)all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!
13 (X)Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for (Y)his name alone is exalted;
(Z)his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14 He has (AA)raised up a horn for his people,
(AB)praise for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are (AC)near to him.
(AD)Praise the Lord!
13 (A)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord (B)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, (C)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 (D)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, (E)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;[a]
(F)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 (G)Lift up your eyes all round and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
(H)As I live, declares the Lord,
(I)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
(J)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (K)The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
(L)‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
(M)I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
(N)and raise my signal to the peoples;
(O)and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 (P)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
(Q)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and (R)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
(S)those who wait for me (T)shall not be put to shame.”
Who Is the Greatest?
18 (A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you (B)turn and (C)become like children, you (D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the (F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but (H)whoever causes one of these (I)little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Temptations to Sin
7 “Woe to the world for (J)temptations to sin![b] (K)For it is necessary that temptations come, (L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into (N)the eternal fire. 9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the (P)hell[c] of fire.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “See that you do not despise (Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven (R)their angels always (S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.[d] 12 (T)What do you think? (U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So (V)it is not the will of my[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.