Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 51
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your lovingkindness;
according to the abundance of Your compassion,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in Your sight,
so that You are justified when You speak,
and You are blameless when You judge.
5 I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden part You make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones that You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Man’s Wickedness
6 When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose. 3 The Lord said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh; yet his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our Savior, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Warning Against False Doctrine
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, continue to remain at Ephesus so that you might command some to teach no other doctrine, 4 nor pay attention to fables and endless genealogies, which cause debates rather than godly edifying, which is in faith. 5 Now the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, and from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. 6 From this, some have lost their way and turned aside to empty talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, and understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if someone uses it lawfully. 9 And we know that the law is not given for a righteous person, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and the profane, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for sodomites, for slave traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.