Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This is a song that David wrote.
I do what is right
26 Lord, I always try to do what is right.
I continue to trust you all the time.
So please show that I am not guilty of wrong things.
2 Test me, Lord, and see how I have lived.
Look into my mind and see my thoughts.
3 I always know that I can trust you,
because of your faithful love.
So I live to please you.
4 I do not become a friend of people who tell lies.
I do not join together with hypocrites.
5 I keep away from any crowd of evil people.
I do not become a friend of wicked people.
6 I wash my hands as a sign
that I live in a pure way.[a]
I will worship you at your altar, Lord.
7 I will sing aloud to thank you.
I will tell people about all the great things that you have done.
8 Lord, I love the temple that is your house.
It is the place where we clearly see your glory.
9 Do not take away my life,
as you do with sinners.
Do not punish me with death,
as you do with murderers.
10 Those wicked people are always ready to do evil things.
They use bribes to get what they want.
11 But I always try to do what is right.
Please save me and be kind to me!
12 Now I stand in a safe place.
I will praise the Lord
when his people meet together to worship him.
17 But on Mount Zion, people will be free.
It will be special to me.
Jacob's descendants will have the country that belongs to them.
I will give it to them.
18 The people in Jacob's and Joseph's family will kill all the people that belong to Esau's family.’
This is what the Lord said.
19 People will come from the Negev. They will come to live in the mountains of Edom.
People will come from the low hills in the west, and they will take the Philistines' country for themselves.
They will live in the fields in Ephraim and Samaria.[a]
Benjamin's people will take Gilead.
20 Some people lived in Israel,
but they now have to live with the Canaanites.
They will get the country as far as Zarephath.
Some people lived in Jerusalem, but now they have to be in Sepharad.
They will get the towns in the Negev.
21 Men will come to make Jerusalem free,
and they will rule over Edom.
And that country will belong to the Lord.[b]
Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man
19 Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. 20 There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. 21 He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. 22 Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. 23 He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. 24 So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”
25 Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. 26 But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”
27 The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”
29 Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”[a]
30 The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”
31 But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’[b]
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