◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Micah 3:5-12 (Judgment upon corrupt leaders); Psalm 43 (Send out your light and truth); 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 (The apostle’s teaching); Matthew 23:1-12 (Humble yourselves) (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Micah 3:5-12

⁵^[a]Thus says the Lord regarding the prophets:
    O you who lead my people astray,
When your teeth have something to bite
    you announce peace,
But proclaim war against the one
    who fails to put something in your mouth.^(A)
⁶Therefore you shall have night, not vision,
    darkness, not divination;
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
    and the day shall be dark for them.^(B)
⁷Then the seers shall be put to shame,
    and the diviners confounded;
They shall all cover their lips,
    because there is no answer from God.
⁸But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the spirit of the Lord,
    with justice and with might;
To declare to Jacob his crimes
    and to Israel his sins.

⁹^[b]Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
    you rulers of the house of Israel!
You who abhor justice,
    and pervert all that is right;
¹⁰Who build up Zion with bloodshed,
    and Jerusalem with wickedness!
¹¹Its leaders render judgment for a bribe,
    the priests teach for pay,
    the prophets divine for money,
While they rely on the Lord, saying,
    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
    No evil can come upon us!”^(C)
¹²Therefore, because of you,
    Zion shall be plowed like a field,
    and Jerusalem reduced to rubble,
And the mount of the temple
    to a forest ridge.^(D)

Psalm 43

¹Grant me justice, O God;
    defend me from a faithless people;
    from the deceitful and unjust rescue me.^(A)
²You, O God, are my strength.
    Why then do you spurn me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    with the enemy oppressing me?
³^(B)Send your light and your fidelity,^[a]
    that they may be my guide;^(C)
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
    to the place of your dwelling,
⁴That I may come to the altar of God,
    to God, my joy, my delight.
Then I will praise you with the harp,
    O God, my God.
⁵Why are you downcast, my soul?
    Why do you groan within me?
Wait for God, for I shall again praise him,
    my savior and my God.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

⁹You recall, brothers, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.^(A) ¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers. ¹¹As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,^(B) ¹²exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you conduct yourselves as worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.^(C)

Further Thanksgiving. ¹³And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.

Matthew 23:1-12

Chapter 23^[a]

Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees. ¹^(A)Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, ²^[b]saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. ³Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. ⁴^(B)They tie up heavy burdens^[c] [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. ⁵^[d]^(C)All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. ⁶^[e]^(D)They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, ⁷greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ ⁸^[f]As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. ¹⁰Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. ¹¹^(E)The greatest among you must be your servant. ¹²^(F)Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Footnotes

23:1–39 The final section of the narrative part of the fifth book of the gospel is a denunciation by Jesus of the scribes and the Pharisees (see note on Mt 3:7). It depends in part on Mark and Q (cf. Mk 12:38–39; Lk 11:37–52; 13:34–35), but in the main it is peculiar to Matthew. (For the reasons against considering this extensive body of sayings-material either as one of the structural discourses of this gospel or as part of the one that follows in Mt 24–25, see note on Mt 19:1–23:39.) While the tradition of a deep opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees is well founded, this speech reflects an opposition that goes beyond that of Jesus’ ministry and must be seen as expressing the bitter conflict between Pharisaic Judaism and the church of Matthew at the time when the gospel was composed. The complaint often made that the speech ignores the positive qualities of Pharisaism and of its better representatives is true, but the complaint overlooks the circumstances that gave rise to the invective. Nor is the speech purely anti-Pharisaic. The evangelist discerns in his church many of the same faults that he finds in its opponents and warns his fellow Christians to look to their own conduct and attitudes.
23:2–3 Have taken their seat…Moses: it is uncertain whether this is simply a metaphor for Mosaic teaching authority or refers to an actual chair on which the teacher sat. It has been proved that there was a seat so designated in synagogues of a later period than that of this gospel. Do and observe…they tell you: since the Matthean Jesus abrogates Mosaic law (Mt 5:31–42), warns his disciples against the teaching of the Pharisees (Mt 14:1–12), and, in this speech, denounces the Pharisees as blind guides in respect to their teaching on oaths (Mt 23:16–22), this commandment to observe all things whatsoever they (the scribes and Pharisees) tell you cannot be taken as the evangelist’s understanding of the proper standard of conduct for his church. The saying may reflect a period when the Matthean community was largely Jewish Christian and was still seeking to avoid a complete break with the synagogue. Matthew has incorporated this traditional material into the speech in accordance with his view of the course of salvation history, in which he portrays the time of Jesus’ ministry as marked by the fidelity to the law, although with significant pointers to the new situation that would exist after his death and resurrection (see note on Mt 5:17–20). The crowds and the disciples (Mt 23:1) are exhorted not to follow the example of the Jewish leaders, whose deeds do not conform to their teaching (Mt 23:3).
23:4 Tie up heavy burdens: see note on Mt 11:28.
23:5 To the charge of preaching but not practicing (Mt 23:3), Jesus adds that of acting in order to earn praise. The disciples have already been warned against this same fault (see note on Mt 6:1–18). Phylacteries: the Mosaic law required that during prayer small boxes containing parchments on which verses of scripture were written be worn on the left forearm and the forehead (see Ex 13:9, 16; Dt 6:8; 11:18). Tassels: see note on Mt 9:20. The widening of phylacteries and the lengthening of tassels were for the purpose of making these evidences of piety more noticeable.
23:6–7 Cf. Mk 12:38–39. ‘Rabbi’: literally, “my great one,” a title of respect for teachers and leaders.
23:8–12 These verses, warning against the use of various titles, are addressed to the disciples alone. While only the title ‘Rabbi’ has been said to be used in addressing the scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:7), the implication is that Father and ‘Master’ also were. The prohibition of these titles to the disciples suggests that their use was present in Matthew’s church. The Matthean Jesus forbids not only the titles but the spirit of superiority and pride that is shown by their acceptance. Whoever exalts…will be exalted: cf. Lk 14:11.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

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.

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Psalm 43

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Chapter 23[a]

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Chapter 23^[a]