Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Other Laws
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell all the ·people [L congregation/community of the sons/T children] of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must be holy because I am holy.
15 “‘·Be fair in your judging [L Do not render perverted judgment]. You must not show ·special favor [partiality] to poor people or great people, but ·be fair when you [L with righteousness] judge your ·neighbor [countryman; James 2:1, 9]. 16 You must not spread ·false stories [slander] against other people, and you must not do anything that would ·put your neighbor’s life in danger [L stand against the blood of your neighbor]. I am the Lord.
17 “‘You must not hate your ·fellow citizen [brother] in your heart. ·If your ·neighbor [countryman] does something wrong, tell him about it [L You must reprove your brother], or you will be partly to blame. 18 ·Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even [You should not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people]. Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31, 33; Luke 10:27]. I am the Lord.
Book 1: Psalms 1–41
Two Ways to Live
1 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who don’t ·listen to [L walk in the counsel of] the wicked,
who don’t ·go where sinners go [L stand in the way of sinners],
who don’t ·do what evil people do [L sit in the seat of mockers].
2 They ·love [delight in] the Lord’s ·teachings [laws; instructions],
and they ·think about [meditate on] those ·teachings [laws; instructions] day and night.
3 They are like a tree planted by ·a river [L streams of water; C full of life, strong, vibrant].
The tree produces fruit in season,
and its leaves don’t ·die [wither].
Everything they do will ·succeed [prosper].
4 But wicked people are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away [C dead, unstable].
5 So the wicked will not ·escape God’s punishment [L stand in the judgment].
Sinners will not ·worship with God’s people [L be in the assembly of the righteous].
6 This is because the Lord ·takes care of his people [L knows the way of the righteous],
but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.
Paul’s Work in Thessalonica
2 Brothers and sisters, you ·know [yourselves know; are well aware that] our ·visit [coming] to you was not ·a failure [without results; in vain; Acts 17:1–9]. 2 Before we came to you, we suffered and were ·insulted [mistreated] in Philippi [C a city in Macedonia (1:7); Acts 16:6–40], as you know. But ·our God helped us to be brave and [L we were emboldened in our God] to tell you ·his Good News [the Gospel of God] in spite of great opposition. 3 [L For] Our ·appeal [encouragement; exhortation] does not come from ·lies [error] or ·wrong reasons [false motives; L impurity], nor ·were we trying to trick you [with guile/deceit]. 4 But we speak the ·Good News [Gospel] because God ·tested [approved] us and ·trusted us to do [or entrusted us with] it. When we speak, we are not trying to please people, but God, who ·tests [examines; approves] our hearts. 5 You know that we never ·tried to influence you by saying nice things about you [L came with words of flattery]. ·We were not trying to get your money; we had no selfishness to hide from you [L …nor with hidden motives of greed]. God ·knows that this is true [L is (our) witness]. 6 We were not looking for human ·praise [glory], from you or anyone else, 7 even though as apostles of Christ we could have ·used our authority over you [thrown our weight around; exercised our prerogatives].
But we were very gentle with you,[a] like a ·mother [nurse; nursing mother] caring for her [L own] little children. 8 Because we ·loved [had such affection for/devotion to] you, we were ·happy [pleased; delighted] to share not only God’s ·Good News [Gospel] with you, but ·even [also] our own lives. You had become so ·dear [beloved] to us!
The Most Important Command(A)
34 When the Pharisees learned that ·the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them [L Jesus had silenced the Sadducees], the Pharisees met together. 35 One Pharisee, who was an expert on the law of Moses, asked Jesus this question to ·test [trap] him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the ·most important [greatest]?”
37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].’ 38 This is the first and ·most important [greatest] command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].’ 40 All the law and the ·writings of the prophets [L prophets] ·depend [are based; L hang] on these two commands.”
Jesus Questions the Pharisees(B)
41 While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the ·Christ [Messiah]? Whose ·son [descendant] is he?”
They answered, “The Son of David [see 2 Sam. 7:12].”
43 Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David, speaking ·by the power of the Holy Spirit [L in/by the Spirit], said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right ·side [L hand; C the place of greatest honor beside the king],
until I put your enemies ·under your control [L beneath your feet; C meaning defeated or made subject to your authority; Ps. 110:1].”’
45 David calls ·the Christ [the Messiah; L him] ‘Lord,’ so how can ·the Christ [the Messiah; L he] be his son?”
46 ·None of the Pharisees [L No one] could answer ·Jesus’ question [a word], and after that day no one ·was brave enough [dared] to ask him any more questions.
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