Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 112[a]
112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one[b] who obeys[c] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.[d]
2 His descendants[e] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly[f] will be blessed.
3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.[g]
4 In the darkness a light[h] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.[i]
5 It goes well for the one[j] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.[k]
6 For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.[l]
7 He does not fear bad news.
He[m] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
8 His resolve[n] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
9 He generously gives[o] to the needy;
his integrity endures.[p]
He will be vindicated and honored.[q]
10 When the wicked[r] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration[s] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.[t]
Purity in the Marriage Relationship
13 Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her,[a] and then rejects[b] her, 14 accusing her of impropriety[c] and defaming her reputation[d] by saying, “I married this woman but when I approached her for marital relations[e] I discovered she was not a virgin!” 15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity[f] for the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected[g] her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out[h] before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish[i] him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation[j] ruined the reputation[k] of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing[l] in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge[m] the evil from among you.
22 If a man is discovered in bed with[n] a married woman,[o] both the man lying in bed with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge[p] the evil from Israel.
23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets[q] her in the city and goes to bed with[r] her, 24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated[s] his neighbor’s fiancée;[t] in this way you will purge[u] evil from among you. 25 But if the man came across[v] the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped[w] her, then only the rapist[x] must die. 26 You must not do anything to the young woman—she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person[y] and murders him, 27 for the man[z] met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and takes hold of her[aa] and sleeps with[ab] her and they are discovered. 29 The man who has slept with her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife. Because he has humiliated her, he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 (23:1)[ac] A man may not marry[ad] his father’s former[ae] wife and in this way dishonor his father.[af]
Celibacy and Marriage
7 Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”[a] 2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with[b] his own wife and each woman with[c] her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility[d] to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife. 5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.[e] Then resume your relationship,[f] so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.
8 To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them get married. For it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire.[g]
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