Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
11 (A)For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man that fears the Lord?
(B)Him shall [a]He teach in the way He chooses.
13 (C)He himself shall dwell in [b]prosperity,
And (D)his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14 (E)The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
15 (F)My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall [c]pluck my feet out of the net.
16 (G)Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am [d]desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18 (H)Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with [e]cruel hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
The Fear of the Lord Leads to Life
19 Better (A)is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
2 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge,
And he sins who hastens with his feet.
3 The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the Lord.
4 (B)Wealth makes many friends,
But the poor is separated from his friend.
5 A (C)false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies will not escape.
6 Many entreat the favor of the nobility,
And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts.
7 (D)All the brothers of the poor hate him;
How much more do his friends go (E)far from him!
He may pursue them with words, yet they [a]abandon him.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies shall perish.
10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool,
Much less (G)for a servant to rule over princes.
11 (H)The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
(I)And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
13 (L)A foolish son is the ruin of his father,
(M)And the contentions of a wife are a continual [c]dripping.
17 (S)He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,
And He will pay back what he has given.
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, (A)that we should love one another, 12 not as (B)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if (C)the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love [a]his brother abides in death. 15 (D)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (E)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
The Outworking of Love
16 (F)By this we know love, (G)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But (H)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.