Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
40 I waited patiently for the Lord.
He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
2 He pulled me out of a horrible pit,
out of the mud and clay.
He set my feet on a rock
and made my steps secure.
3 He placed a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see this and worship.
They will trust the Lord.
4 Blessed is the person
who places his confidence in the Lord
and does not rely on arrogant people
or those who follow lies.
5 You have done many miraculous things, O Lord my God.
You have made many wonderful plans for us.
No one compares to you!
I will tell others about your miracles,
which are more than I can count.
6 You were not pleased with sacrifices and offerings.
You have dug out two ears for me.
You did not ask for burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin.
7 Then I said, “I have come!
(It is written about me in the scroll of the book.)
8 I am happy to do your will, O my God.”
Your teachings are deep within me.
The Lord Offers to Forgive Israel
14 [a]Israel, return to the Lord your God.
You have stumbled because of your sins.
2 Return to the Lord, and say these things to him:
“Forgive all our sins, and kindly receive us.
Then we’ll praise you with our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us.
We won’t ride on horses anymore.
We will never again say
that the things our hands have made are our gods.
You love orphans.”
4 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “I will cure them of their unfaithfulness.
I will love them freely.
I will no longer be angry with them.
5 I will be like dew to the people of Israel.
They will blossom like flowers.
They will be firmly rooted like cedars from Lebanon.
6 They will be like growing branches.
They will be beautiful like olive trees.
They will be fragrant like cedars from Lebanon.
7 They will live again in God’s shadow.
They will grow like grain.
They will blossom like grapevines.
They will be as famous as the wines from Lebanon.
8 “The people of Ephraim will have nothing more to do with idols.
I will answer them and take care of them.
I am like a growing pine tree.
Their fruit comes from me.”
9 Wise people will understand these things.
A person with insight will recognize them.
The Lord’s ways are right.
Righteous people live by them.
Rebellious people stumble over them.
Jesus Has Authority over the Day of Rest—a Holy Day(A)
12 Then on a day of rest—a holy day, Jesus walked through the grainfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain to eat.
2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not right to do on the day of rest—a holy day.”
3 Jesus asked them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? 4 Haven’t you read how he went into the house of God and ate [a] the bread of the presence? He and his men had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right. 5 Or haven’t you read in Moses’ Teachings that on the day of rest—a holy day, the priests in the temple do things they shouldn’t on the day of rest yet remain innocent? 6 I can guarantee that something [b] greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what ‘I want mercy, not sacrifices’ means, you would not have condemned innocent people.
8 “The Son of Man has authority over the day of rest—a holy day.”
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