Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to God for His Rescue of Israel
For the music director, with stringed instruments.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.[a]
76 God is known in Judah.
His name is great in Israel.
2 His den[b] has been in Salem,
his lair[c] in Zion.
3 There he broke the flames of the bow,
the shield and sword and battle. Selah
4 Radiant[d] you are, majestic,
from[e] the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted are plundered;
they sleep their sleep,
and all the able men cannot use[f] their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider[g] and horse slumber.
7 You, indeed, are to be feared,[h]
and who can stand before you
when you are angry? [i]
8 From heaven you proclaimed judgment.
The earth feared and was still
9 when God rose for justice,
to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah
10 For the anger of humankind will praise you.
You will put on the remnant of anger.[j]
11 Make vows and fulfill them to Yahweh, your God;
let all surrounding him
bring tribute to the one to be feared.[k]
12 He cuts off the spirit of leaders.
He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
Proper Worship
66 Thus says Yahweh:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is the footstool for my feet.
Where is this house that you would build for me?
And where is this resting place for me?
2 And my hand has made all these things,
and all these came to be,”[a]
declares[b] Yahweh, “but[c] I look to this one:
to the humble and the contrite of spirit
and the one frightened at my word.
3 The one who slaughters a bull strikes a man;
the one who slaughters a lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck of a dog.
The one who offers an offering, the blood of swine;
the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol.
Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways,
and their soul delights in their abhorrence.
4 Indeed, I myself I will choose their ill treatment,
and I will bring them objects of their dread,
because I called, and no one answered;[d]
I spoke and they did not listen,
but[e] they did the evil in my eyes,
and they chose that in which I do not delight.”
5 Hear the word of Yahweh, you who are frightened at his word:
Your brothers who hate you,
who exclude you for my name’s sake have said,
“Let Yahweh be honored so that[f] we may see your joy!”
But[g] they themselves shall be ashamed.
6 A voice, an uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple!
The voice of Yahweh paying back[h] his enemies!
Zion’s Delivery
7 Before she was in labor she gave birth;
before labor pains[i] came to her, she gave birth to a son.
8 Who has heard anything like this?
Who has seen anything like these things?
Can a land be born in one day?
Or can a nation be born in a moment?
Yet when she was in labor, Zion indeed gave birth to her children.
9 Shall I myself I break open and not deliver?”[j] says Yahweh,
“or I who delivers[k] lock up the womb?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem
and shout in exultation with her, all those who love her!
Rejoice with her in joy, all those who mourn over her,
11 so that you may suck and be satisfied from her consoling breast,[l]
so that you may drink deeply and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”[m]
12 For thus says Yahweh:
“Look! I am about to spread prosperity out to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you shall suck and be carried on the hip;
and you shall you shall be played with on the knees.
13 As a man whose mother comforts him, so I myself will comfort you,
and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Freedom in Christ
23 All things are permitted, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted, but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good[a] but the good of the other. 25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, asking no questions[b] for the sake of the conscience, 26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.”[c] 27 If any of the unbelievers invites you, and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, asking no questions[d] for the sake of the conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is offered to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of that one who informed you and the conscience. 29 Now I am not speaking about your own conscience, but the conscience of the other person. For why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense[e] both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all people in all things, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of the many, in order that they may be saved.
Concerning Head Coverings in Worship
11 Become imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
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