Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 120[a]
Prayer of a Returned Exile
1 A song of ascents.[b]
The Lord answered me
when I called in my distress:(A)
2 Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a treacherous tongue.(B)
11 Thus says the Lord concerning Shallum,[a] son of Josiah, king of Judah, his father’s successor, who left this place: He shall never return, 12 but in the place where they exiled him, there he shall die; he shall never see this land again.
Jehoiakim
13 Woe to him who builds his house on wrongdoing,
his roof-chambers on injustice;
Who works his neighbors without pay,[b]
and gives them no wages.(A)
14 Who says, “I will build myself a spacious house,
with airy rooms,”
Who cuts out windows for it,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it with vermilion.
15 Must you prove your rank among kings[c]
by competing with them in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink,
And act justly and righteously?
Then he prospered.(B)
16 Because he dispensed justice to the weak and the poor,
he prospered.
Is this not to know me?—
oracle of the Lord.(C)
17 But your eyes and heart are set on nothing
except your own gain,
On shedding innocent blood
and practicing oppression and extortion.(D)
37 (A)After he had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat.(B) 38 The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.(C) 39 The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!(D) Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. 40 You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? 41 But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you. 42 Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others.(E) 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces.(F) 44 Woe to you! You are like unseen graves[a] over which people unknowingly walk.”(G)
45 Then one of the scholars of the law[b] said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”(H) 46 And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them. 47 (I)Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building. 49 (J)Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles;[c] some of them they will kill and persecute’ 50 in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah[d] who died between the altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!(K) 52 Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”(L)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.