Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A ^[a]Contemplation.

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt ^(B)have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way which ^(C)I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ^(D)‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(E)“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a ^[a]stiff-necked people! ¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(F)let Me alone, that ^(G)My wrath may burn hot against them and I may ^[b]consume them. And ^(H)I will make of you a great nation.”

^11 (I)Then Moses pleaded with ^[c]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ^12 (J)Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and ^(K)relent from this harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You ^(L)swore by Your own self, and said to them, ^(M)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴ So the Lord ^(N)relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep^(A)

15 Then ^(B)all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. ² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man ^[a]receives sinners ^(C)and eats with them.” ³ So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

^4 (D)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ^(E)‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep ^(F)which was lost!’ ⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents ^(G)than over ninety-nine ^[b]just persons who ^(H)need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver ^[c]coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ ¹⁰ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”