Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for the Lord’s Kindness
113 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name ·should [is to] be ·praised [blessed]
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name ·should [is to] be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is ·supreme [exalted] over all the nations [99:2];
his glory [C God’s manifest presence] ·reaches to the skies [is over the heavens].
5 ·No one [L Who…?] is like the Lord our God,
who ·rules [L is seated/enthroned] ·from heaven [on high],
6 who ·bends [stoops] down to look
at the ·skies [heavens] and the earth.
7 The Lord ·lifts [raises] the poor from the ·dirt [dust]
and ·takes [exalts] the ·helpless [needy] from the ashes.
8 He ·seats [enthrones] them with princes,
the princes of his people [1 Sam. 2:8; Luke 1:52].
9 He gives ·children to the woman who has none [L the barren woman a home]
and makes her ·a happy mother [L joyful with children].
Praise the Lord!
8 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who add more houses to your houses
and more fields to your fields [C accumulating wealth at the expense of others, in violation of God’s command that tribal allotments be permanent; Lev. 25:23]
until ·there is no room left for other people [no space is left].
Then you are left alone in the land.
9 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] said this ·to me [L in my ears]:
“·The fine [The great; or Many] houses will ·be destroyed [become desolate];
the large and beautiful houses will be left empty [L of inhabitants].
10 At that time a ·ten-acre [L ten-yoke; C unknown measurement, though clearly a large area] vineyard will make only ·six gallons [L one bath] of wine,
and ·ten bushels [L a homer] of seed will grow only one bushel [L an ephah; C one tenth of a homer] of grain.”
11 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who rise early in the morning
to ·look for [run after; pursue] ·strong drink [or beer; C alcoholic beverage made from grain],
who ·stay awake late at night [linger into twilight],
becoming ·drunk [L inflamed] with wine.
12 At their ·parties [banquets; feasts] they have lyres, harps,
tambourines, flutes, and wine.
They ·don’t see [or have no regard for] what the Lord has done
or ·notice [see; comprehend] the work of his hands.
13 So my people will ·be captured and taken away [be deported; go into exile/captivity],
because they ·don’t really know me [or lack understanding].
·All the great people [Their nobles/men of honor] will die of hunger,
and the ·common people [multitudes; masses] ·will die of [or will be parched with] thirst.
14 So ·the place of the dead [or the grave; L Sheol] ·wants more and more people [L opens wide/enlarges its throat],
and it opens wide its mouth.
·Jerusalem’s [L Her] ·important people [nobility] and ·common people [multitude; masses] will go down into it,
with their ·happy and noisy ones [noisy revellers; drunken mob].
15 ·People [Humanity] will be humbled, ·everyone [each person; mankind] will be brought down;
·those who are [L the eyes of the] ·proud [haughty] will be humbled.
16 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will ·receive glory [be exalted] by ·judging fairly [his justice];
the holy God will show himself holy by ·doing what is right [righteousnes].
17 Then the ·sheep [or lambs] will ·go anywhere they want [L feed as if in their pasture],
and ·lambs [or strangers; foreigners] will feed ·on the land that rich people once owned [among the ruins of the rich].
18 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] those people!
They pull ·their guilt and sins behind them
as people pull wagons with ropes [L wickedness with the ropes of emptiness and sin with cart ropes].
19 They say, “Let God hurry;
let him do his work ·soon [quickly]
so we may see it.
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel [1:4] ·happen soon [approach and draw near]
so that we will know what it is.”
20 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who call ·good things bad
and bad things good [L evil good and good evil],
who ·think darkness is [or make darkness] light
and ·light is [or make light] darkness,
who ·think sour is [or turn sour/bitter to] sweet
and sweet ·is sour [or to sour/bitter].
21 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who ·think they are wise [L are wise in their own eyes; Prov. 3:7; 26:12; 27:1; 28:11, 26]
and ·believe they are clever [L clever/understanding in front of themselves].
22 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who are ·famous for [heroes/champions at] drinking wine
and are ·champions [valiant men] at mixing ·drinks [beer; v. 11].
23 They take ·money [a bribe] to ·set the guilty free [acquit the wicked]
and ·don’t allow good people to be judged fairly [deny justice/righteousness to the innocent/righteous].
True Giving(A)
41 Jesus sat near the Temple ·money box [offering chest; or treasury] and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42 Then a poor widow came and put in ·two small copper coins [L two lepta], ·which were only worth a few cents [L which is a quadrans; C a Roman coin worth 1/64 of a denarius, or about 10 minutes of work for a day laborer].
43 Calling his ·followers [disciples] to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 44 They gave ·only what they did not need [out of their surplus/abundance]. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had—everything she had to live on.”
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