Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
97 Oh, how I love your teachings!
They are in my thoughts all day long.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commandments are always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
because your written instructions are in my thoughts.
100 I have more wisdom than those with many years of experience,
because I have obeyed your guiding principles.
101 I have kept my feet ⌞from walking⌟ on any evil path
in order to obey your word.
102 I have not neglected your regulations,
because you have taught me.
103 How sweet the taste of your promise is!
It tastes sweeter than honey.
104 From your guiding principles I gain understanding.
That is why I hate every path that leads to lying.
A Day of Fasting and Confession
9 When the Israelites assembled on the twenty-fourth day of this month, they fasted, wore sackcloth, and threw dirt on their heads. 2 Those who were descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins as well as the wicked things their ancestors had done. 3 They stood in their places, and for one-fourth of the day, ⌞they listened as⌟ the Book of the Teachings of the Lord their God was read, and for another fourth ⌞of the day⌟, they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.
A Day of Prayer
4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chanani stood on the stairs built for the Levites and cried loudly to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up, and thank the Lord your God:
CREATION
From everlasting to everlasting your glorious name is praised
and lifted high above all blessing and praise.
6 You alone are the Lord.
You made heaven, the highest heaven, with all its armies.
You made the earth and everything on it,
the seas and everything in them.
You give life to them all, and the armies of heaven worship you.
ABRAHAM
7 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram
and took him from Ur of the Chaldeans
and gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found that his heart was faithful to you.
You made a promise [a] to him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites to his descendants.
You kept your promise because you are fair.
THE EXODUS
9 You saw how our ancestors suffered in Egypt,
and you heard them crying at the Red Sea.
10 You performed miraculous signs and did amazing things to Pharaoh
and all his servants and all the people in his land
because you knew how arrogantly
they were treating our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself, a name which remains to this day.
11 You divided the sea in front of them
so that they could walk through the sea on dry ground.
You threw into deep water those who pursued your people
as someone throws a stone into raging water.
WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS
12 You led them during the day by a column of smoke
and during the night by a column of fire to give them light
to see the way they should go.
13 You came from heaven to Mount Sinai
and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them fair rules, trustworthy teachings,
and good laws and commandments.
14 You taught them about your holy day of rest.
You gave them commandments, laws, and teachings
through your servant Moses.
15 You gave them bread from heaven to satisfy their hunger
and made water flow from a rock to quench their thirst.
You told them to take possession of the land
that you swore you would give them.
Advice to Wives and Husbands
21 Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ.
22 Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority. 23 The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. 24 As the church is under Christ’s authority, so wives are under their husbands’ authority in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. 27 Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle—holy and without faults. 28 So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. 30 We are parts of his body. 31 That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. 32 This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.) 33 But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.
Advice to Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents because you are Christians.[a] This is the right thing to do. 2 “Honor your father and mother 3 that everything may go well for you, and you may have a long life on earth.” This is an important commandment with a promise.[b]
4 Fathers, don’t make your children bitter about life. Instead, bring them up in Christian discipline and instruction.
Advice to Slaves and Masters
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with proper respect. Be as sincere as you are when you obey Christ. 6 Don’t obey them only while you’re being watched, as if you merely wanted to please people. But obey like slaves who belong to Christ, who have a deep desire to do what God wants them to do. 7 Serve eagerly as if you were serving your heavenly master and not merely serving human masters. 8 You know that your heavenly master will reward all of us for whatever good we do, whether we’re slaves or free people.
9 Masters, treat your slaves with respect. Don’t threaten a slave. You know that there is one master in heaven who has authority over both of you, and he doesn’t play favorites.
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