Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book I
Psalms 1–41
Psalm 1
Two Responses to God’s Word
The Way of the Godly Leads to Blessing
1 How blessed is the man
who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,
who does not stand on the path with sinners,
and who does not sit in a meeting with mockers.
2 But his delight is in the teaching[a] of the Lord,
and on his teaching he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season,
and its leaves do not wither.
Everything he does prospers.
The Way of the Ungodly Leads to Destruction
4 Not so the wicked!
No, they are like the chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
Conclusion
6 Yes, the Lord approves[b] of the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
2 Moses summoned all Israel and spoke to them as follows:
You have seen everything that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole land: 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, those great signs and wonders. 4 Yet the Lord to this very day has not given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.
5 “I led you through the wilderness for forty years. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did the sandals on your feet. 6 You did not eat bread, and you did not drink wine and beer. I did all this so you would know that I am the Lord your God.”
7 When you came to this place, and Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, we struck them down. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.
9 Therefore you are to keep the words of this covenant and carry them out so that you may succeed in all that you do.
10 You are standing today before the Lord your God, all of you—your tribal heads, your elders, your officers, and men of every rank in Israel, 11 your children, your wives, and the aliens who reside in your camp, whether as wood cutters or water carriers. 12 You are standing here so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which is sealed by the oath that the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 in order to establish you today as his people and himself as your God, just as he promised you and just as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 Today I am not making this covenant and its oath only with you, 15 but also with everyone who is standing here with us before the Lord our God, and also with those who are not here with us today.
16 You yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the midst of the various nations we encountered. 17 You saw their detestable things and their filthy idols of wood and stone and silver and gold that were with them.
18 Make sure that there is not among you a man, a woman, a family, or a tribe whose heart today is turning away from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Make sure that there is among you no root that is producing a poison plant and bitter wormwood. 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he might congratulate himself in his heart and say, “I’ll be safe, even though I’m proceeding in my stubborn way.” By acting this way he will destroy the watered ground as well as the parched.
20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger and jealousy of the Lord will smoke against that man, and all the curses written in this document will come to rest on him, and the Lord will wipe away his name from under the heavens.
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.[a]
37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple—Amen I tell you—he will never lose his reward.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.