Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Protection, Guidance, and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘^(A)Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced ^(B)justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall certainly live. ²⁰ The person who ^(C)sins will die. A ^(D)son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the ^(E)righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹ “But if the ^(F)wicked person turns from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. ^22 (G)All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his ^(H)righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. ^23 (I)Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “^[a]rather than that he would ^(J)turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “But when a righteous person ^(K)turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and does according to all the abominations that the wicked person does, will he live? ^(L)All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his ^(M)treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²⁷ And they *came again to Jerusalem. ^(A)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders *came to Him, ²⁸ and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” ²⁹ But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹ And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the ^[a]people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. ³³ Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”