Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prosperity of the One Who Fears the Lord.
112 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
How (A)blessed is the man who [c]fears the Lord,
Who greatly (B)delights in His commandments.
2 His [d](C)descendants will be mighty [e]on earth;
The generation of the (D)upright will be blessed.
3 (E)Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light arises in the darkness (F)for the upright;
He is (G)gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who (H)is gracious and lends;
He will [f]maintain his cause in judgment.
6 For he will (I)never be shaken;
The (J)righteous will be [g]remembered forever.
Faithless Israel
6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She (A)went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 (B)I [a]thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her (C)treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and (D)given her a writ of divorce, yet her (E)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she (F)polluted the land and committed adultery with (G)stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in (H)deception,” declares the Lord.
God Invites Repentance
11 And the Lord said to me, “(I)Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,
‘(J)Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;
‘(K)I will not [b]look upon you in anger.
For I am (L)gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only [c](M)acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God
And have (N)scattered your [d]favors to the strangers (O)under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.
14 ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;
‘For I am a (P)master to you,
And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
And (Q)I will bring you to Zion.’
27 “(A)You have heard that it was said, ‘(B)You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman (C)with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 (D)If your right eye makes you [a]stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you [b]to lose one of the parts of your body, [c]than for your whole body to be thrown into [d](E)hell. 30 (F)If your right hand makes you [e]stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you [f]to lose one of the parts of your body, [g]than for your whole body to go into [h](G)hell.
31 “It was said, ‘(H)Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 (I)but I say to you that everyone who [i]divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a [j]divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, (J)you have heard that [k]the ancients were told, ‘[l](K)You shall not [m]make false vows, but shall fulfill your [n]vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, (L)make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is (M)the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the (N)footstool of His feet, or [o]by Jerusalem, for it is (O)the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
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