Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 (A)Observe the sabbath day—keep it holy, as the Lord, your God, commanded you. 13 Six days you may labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, either you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey or any work animal, or the resident alien within your gates, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you too were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, your God, brought you out from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
Psalm 81[a]
An Admonition to Fidelity
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.”[b] Of Asaph.
I
2 Sing joyfully to God our strength;(A)
raise loud shouts to the God of Jacob!
3 Take up a melody, sound the timbrel,
the pleasant lyre with a harp.
4 [c]Blow the shofar at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.(B)
5 For this is a law for Israel,
an edict of the God of Jacob,(C)
6 He made it a decree for Joseph
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
II
7 [d]I heard a tongue I did not know:
“I removed his shoulder from the burden;[e]
his hands moved away from the basket.(D)
8 In distress you called and I rescued you;
I answered you in secret with thunder;
At the waters of Meribah[f] I tested you:(E) 9 ‘Listen, my people, I will testify against you
Selah
If only you will listen to me, Israel!(F)
10 There shall be no foreign god among you;[g](G)
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
5 For we do not preach ourselves[a] but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. 6 [b]For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of [Jesus] Christ.(A)
The Paradox of the Ministry. 7 [c]But we hold this treasure[d] in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. 8 [e]We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair;(B) 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 [f](C)always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.(D)
12 [g]So death is at work in us, but life in you.
23 As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.(A) 24 At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”(B) 25 He said to them, “Have you never read what David did[a] when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? 26 How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?”(C) 27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man,[b] not man for the sabbath.(D) 28 [c]That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Chapter 3
A Man with a Withered Hand. 1 [d]Again he entered the synagogue.(E) There was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. 5 Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored.(F) 6 [e]The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
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.