Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ו (Vav)
41 May I experience your loyal love,[a] O Lord,
and your deliverance,[b] as you promised.[c]
42 Then I will have a reply for the one who insults me,[d]
for I trust in your word.
43 Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony,[e]
for I await your justice.
44 Then I will keep[f] your law continually
now and for all time.[g]
45 I will be secure,[h]
for I seek your precepts.
46 I will speak[i] about your regulations before kings
and not be ashamed.
47 I will find delight in your commands,
which I love.
48 I will lift my hands to[j] your commands,
which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 11 Then he[a] said to me, “Get up, set out leading[b] the people so they may go and possess[c] the land I promised to give to their ancestors.”[d]
An Exhortation to Love Both God and People
12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him,[e] to obey all his commandments,[f] to love him, to serve him[g] with all your mind and being,[h] 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving[i] you today for your own good? 14 The heavens—indeed the highest heavens—belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he[j] show his loving favor,[k] and he chose you, their descendants,[l] from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, cleanse[m] your hearts and stop being so stubborn![n] 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats[o] the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name. 21 He is the one you should praise;[p] he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.[q]
Faith and Works Together
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[a] if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith[b] save him?[c] 15 If a brother or sister[d] is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs,[e] what good is it? 17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”[f] Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by[g] my works. 19 You believe that God is one; well and good.[h] Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.[i]
20 But would you like evidence,[j] you empty fellow,[k] that faith without works is useless?[l] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,”[m] and he was called God’s friend.[n] 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
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