Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
do it for Your name’s sake.
Indeed, our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against You.
8 O the Hope of Israel,
its Savior in time of trouble,
why should You be as a stranger in the land,
and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to pitch his tent for a night?
9 Why should You be as a man dismayed,
as a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name.
Do not forsake us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
Even so they have loved to wander;
they have not restrained their feet.
Therefore, the Lord does not accept them;
He will now remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
The People Ask for Mercy
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace,
but there was nothing good;
and for the time of healing,
but there is trouble!
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us. For Your name’s sake,
do not disgrace Your glorious throne.
Remember and do not break
Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore, we will wait upon You,
for You have done all these things.
Psalm 84
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O Lord of Hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, even faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my body cry out
for the living God.
3 Yes, the sparrow has found a home
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
even at Your altars,
O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
they continually praise You. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the paths to Zion.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they makes it a spring;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
every one of them appears in Zion before God.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. 8 From now on a crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but everyone forsook me. May it not be charged against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves, as though they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed these things about himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I tithe of all that I earn.’
13 “But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but struck his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.