Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Samech

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Ain

¹⁶ The anger of the LORD is against those that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

Pe

¹⁷ The righteous cried out, and the LORD heard and delivered them out of all their troubles.

Tzaddi

¹⁸ The LORD is near unto those that are of a broken heart and saves such as are of a contrite spirit.

Koph

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD shall deliver him out of them all,

Resh

²⁰ keeping all his bones; not one of them shall be broken.

Schin

²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked; and those that hate the righteous shall be declared guilty.

Tau

²² The LORD ransoms the soul of his slaves, and none of those that trust in him shall be declared guilty.

²¹ ¶ Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knows and let Israel also know; if it is in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD (save us not this day)

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD or if to offer thereon burnt offering or present or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;

²⁴ likewise, if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, Peradventure tomorrow your children shall speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

²⁵ The LORD has put the Jordan for a border between us and you, O sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD, so shall your sons make our sons cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now work to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,

²⁷ but that it may be a witness between us and you and our generations after us, to do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore we said, that it shall be, if they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may reply, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Let it never happen that we should rebel against the LORD or that we should turn today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for presents, or for sacrifices, in addition to the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ ¶ And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

³¹ And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said unto the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us because ye have not intended to trespass against the LORD. Now ye have delivered the sons of Israel from the wrath of the LORD.

³² And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel and brought them word again.

³³ And the thing pleased the sons of Israel; and the sons of Israel blessed God and did not speak again of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar Ed; for it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.

⁵ And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

⁶ for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

⁷ And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

⁸ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

¹⁰ For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him?