Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail
32 Look, a king will promote fairness;[a]
officials will promote justice.[b]
2 Each of them[c] will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
3 Eyes[d] will no longer be blind[e]
and ears[f] will be attentive.
4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment,[g]
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;[h]
his mind plans out sinful deeds.[i]
He commits godless deeds[j]
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite[k]
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.[l]
7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;[m]
he dreams up evil plans[n]
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right.[o]
8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security.[p]
12 For all who have sinned apart from the law[a] will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.[b] 14 For whenever the Gentiles,[c] who do not have the law, do by nature[d] the things required by the law,[e] these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 15 They[f] show that the work of the law is written[g] in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend[h] them,[i] 16 on the day when God will judge[j] the secrets of human hearts,[k] according to my gospel[l] through Christ Jesus.
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