Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
First Book—Psalms 1–41
Psalm 1[a]
True Happiness in God’s Law
I
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the way[b] of sinners,
nor sit in company with scoffers.(A)
2 Rather, the law of the Lord[c] is his joy;
and on his law he meditates day and night.(B)
3 He is like a tree(C)
planted near streams of water,
that yields its fruit in season;
Its leaves never wither;
whatever he does prospers.
II
5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 (A)Tell the Israelites: If a man or a woman commits any offense against another person, thus breaking faith with the Lord, and thereby becomes guilty, 7 that person shall confess the wrong that has been done, make restitution in full, and in addition give one fifth of its value to the one that has been wronged. 8 However, if there is no next of kin,[a] one to whom restitution can be made, the restitution shall be made to the Lord and shall fall to the priest; this is apart from the ram of atonement with which the priest makes atonement for the guilty individual. 9 Likewise, every contribution among the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to him.(B) 10 Each shall possess his own sacred offerings; what is given to a priest shall be his.(C)
II. Pastoral Charge
Titus in Crete. 5 [a]For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, 6 (A)on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious. 7 For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, 9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.(B) 10 [b]For there are also many rebels, idle talkers and deceivers, especially the Jewish Christians.[c] 11 It is imperative to silence them, as they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what they should not. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, once said, “Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[d] 13 That testimony is true. Therefore, admonish them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith,(C) 14 instead of paying attention to Jewish myths and regulations of people who have repudiated the truth.(D) 15 To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted.(E) 16 They claim to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and disobedient and unqualified for any good deed.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.