Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Aleph

¹ ¶ Halelu-JAH. Blessed is the man that fears the LORD,

Beth

that delights greatly in his commandments.

Gimel

² His seed shall be mighty upon earth;

Daleth

the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

He

³ Wealth and riches shall be in his house;

Vau

and his righteousness endures for ever.

Zain

⁴ A light has shined in the darkness upon the upright:

Cheth

Gracious and merciful and righteous.

Teth

⁵ A good man has mercy and lends;

Jod

He will govern his affairs with good judgment.

Caph

⁶ ¶ Surely he shall not be moved for ever;

Lamed

the righteous shall be in eternal remembrance.

Mem

⁷ He shall not be afraid of evil rumours;

Nun

his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

Samech

⁸ His heart is established; he shall not be afraid,

Ain

until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

Pe

⁹ He has dispersed; he has given to the poor;

Tzaddi

his righteousness endures for ever;

Koph

his horn shall be exalted in glory.

Resh

¹⁰ The wicked shall see it and be furious;

Schin

he shall gnash with his teeth and waste away:

Tau

The desire of the wicked shall perish.

24 ¶ When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her; then let him write her a bill of divorce and give it in her hand and send her out of his house.

² And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

³ And if the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and gives it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies,

⁴ her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled, for that is abomination before the LORD; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.

⁵ ¶ When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business; but he shall be free at home one year and shall cheer up his wife whom he has taken.

¹⁰ ¶ And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife separate from her husband;

¹¹ and if she separates, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and let not the husband put away his wife.

¹² But to the rest I speak, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that does not believe, and she consents to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

¹³ And the woman who has a husband that does not believe and if he consents to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

¹⁵ But if the unbelieving spouse separates, let them separate. The brother or the sister is not under slavery in such cases, but God has called us to peace.

¹⁶ For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or what knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?