Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 116

¹ I love the Lord, because He has heard [and now hears] my voice and my supplications.

² Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.

³ The cords and sorrows of death were around me, and the terrors of Sheol (the place of the dead) had laid hold of me; I suffered anguish and grief (trouble and sorrow).

⁴ Then called I upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I beseech You, save my life and deliver me!

⁵ Gracious is the Lord, and [rigidly] righteous; yes, our God is merciful.

⁶ The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He helped and saved me.

⁷ Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.^(A)

⁸ For You have delivered my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling and falling.

⁹ I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

²² But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go into the harlot’s house and bring out the woman and all she has, as you swore to her.

²³ So the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred and set them outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ And they ^[a] burned the city with fire and all that was in it; only the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

²⁵ So Joshua saved Rahab the harlot, with her father’s household and all that she had; and she lives in Israel even to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Then Joshua laid this oath on them, Cursed is the man before the Lord who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.^(A)

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

²³ And when He entered the sacred ^[a]enclosure of the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, By what ^[b]power of authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this power of authority?

²⁴ Jesus answered them, I also will ask you a question, and if you give Me the answer, then I also will tell you by what ^[c]power of authority I do these things.

²⁵ The baptism of John—from where was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, ^[d]He will ask us, Why then did you not believe him?

²⁶ But if we say, From men—we are afraid of and must reckon with the multitude, for they all regard John as a prophet.

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what ^[e]power of authority I do these things.

²⁸ What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard.

²⁹ And he answered, I will not; but afterward he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ Then the man came to the second and said the same [thing]. And he replied, I will [go], sir; but he did not go.

³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father? They replied, The first one. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the harlots will get into the kingdom of heaven before you.

³² For John came to you walking in the way of an upright man in right standing with God, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him; and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you].