Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
The Year of Debt Release
15 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.[a] 2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person;[b] he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite,[c] for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite[d] owes you, you must remit. 4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord[e] will surely bless[f] you in the land that he[g] is giving you as an inheritance,[h] 5 if you carefully obey[i] him[j] by keeping[k] all these commandments that I am giving[l] you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you.
The Spirit of Liberality
7 If a fellow Israelite[m] from one of your villages[n] in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive[o] to his impoverished condition.[p] 8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend[q] him whatever he needs.[r] 9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude[s] be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite[t] and you do not lend[u] him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be regarded as having sinned.[v] 10 You must by all means lend[w] to him and not be upset by doing it,[x] for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open[y] your hand to your fellow Israelites[z] who are needy and poor in your land.
15 And so he is the mediator[a] of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised,[b] since he died[c] to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven.[d] 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood.[e] 19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.”[f] 21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 So it was necessary for the sketches[g] of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices,[h] but the heavenly things themselves required[i] better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation[j] of the true sanctuary[k]—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.
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