Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
4 Say to those with (A)anxious heart,
“Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with (B)vengeance;
The (C)retribution of God will come,
But He will (D)save you.”
5 Then the (E)eyes of those who are blind will be opened,
And the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped.
6 Then those who (F)limp will leap like a deer,
And the (G)tongue of those who cannot speak will shout for joy.
For waters will burst forth in the (H)wilderness,
And streams in the [a]desert.
7 The [b]scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground (I)springs of water;
In the (J)haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
The Lord, an Abundant Helper.
146 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
(A)Praise the Lord, my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord (B)while I live;
I will (C)sing praises to my God while I [c]have my being.
3 (D)Do not trust in noblemen,
In [d]mortal (E)man, in whom there is (F)no salvation.
4 His (G)spirit departs, he (H)returns to [e]the earth;
On that very day his (I)plans perish.
5 (J)Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose (K)hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who (L)made heaven and earth,
The (M)sea and everything that is in them;
Who (N)keeps [f]faith forever;
7 Who (O)executes justice for the oppressed;
Who (P)gives food to the hungry.
The Lord (Q)frees the prisoners.
8 The Lord (R)opens the eyes of those who are blind;
The Lord (S)raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord (T)loves the righteous.
9 The Lord (U)watches over strangers;
He [g](V)supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He [h]thwarts (W)the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will (X)reign forever,
Your God, Zion, to all generations.
[i]Praise [j]the Lord!
The Sin of Partiality
2 (A)My brothers and sisters, (B)do not hold your faith in our (C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (D)personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your [a]assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in (E)bright clothes, and a poor man in (F)dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and you [b]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (H)with evil [c]motives? 5 Listen, (I)my beloved brothers and sisters: did (J)God not choose the poor [d]of this world to be (K)rich in faith and (L)heirs of the kingdom which He (M)promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [e]personally (N)drag you into [f]court? 7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the good name [g]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [h]royal law according to the Scripture, “(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet (S)stumbles in one point, has become (T)guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “(A)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(B)Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12 So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by (C)the law of freedom. 13 For (D)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [a]triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
14 (A)What use is it, (B)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can [a]that faith save him? 15 (C)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(D)Go in peace, [b]be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, (E)faith also, if it has no works, is [c]dead, being by itself.
The Syrophoenician Woman
24 (A)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of (B)Tyre[a]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a [b]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not [c]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the [d]dogs.” 28 But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” 29 And He said to her, “Because of this [e]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And after going back to her home, she found the child [f]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 (C)Again He left the region of (D)Tyre and came through Sidon to (E)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of (F)Decapolis. 32 And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to (G)lay His hand on him. 33 And Jesus (H)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after (I)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep (J)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the [g]impediment of his tongue was [h]removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And (K)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they (L)continued to proclaim it. 37 And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.