Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 6[a]
Evening Prayer for God’s Mercy
1 For the director.[b] With stringed instruments. “Upon the eighth.” A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or punish me in your wrath.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am tottering;
help me, O Lord, for my body is in agony.[c]
4 My soul[d] is also filled with anguish.
But you, O Lord—how long?
5 Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul;
save me because of your kindness.[e]
6 For among the dead who remembers you?
In the netherworld who sings your praises?[f]
7 I am exhausted from my sighing;
every night I flood my bed with my tears,
and I soak my couch with my weeping.
8 My eyes grow dim because of my grief;
they are worn out[g] because of all my foes.
9 Depart from me, all you evildoers,[h]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
10 The Lord has listened to my pleas;
the Lord has accepted my prayer.
11 All my enemies will be shamed and terrified;
they will flee in utter confusion.[i]
Lepers at the Gate. 3 There were four lepers at the entrance to the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?[a] 4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ there is famine in the city. We would die there. If we continue to sit here, we will die just the same. Let us go and surrender to the army of the Arameans. If they let us live, then we will live, but if they kill us, then we will die.”
5 At dusk they got up and went into the camp of the Arameans. When they arrived at the edge of the Aramean camp, they did not find anyone. 6 The Lord had made the Aramean army hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses and the sound of a large army. They said to one another, “The king of Israel has paid the Hittite kings and the Egyptian kings to attack us.” 7 They arose at dusk and fled, abandoning their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving their camp as it was. They fled for their lives.
8 These lepers reached the edge of the camp, and they entered one of the tents where they ate and drank and carried away silver, gold, and clothing. They went off and hid it, and they then entered another tent and carried off things from it as well. They went and hid those things.
9 They then said to one another, “What we are doing today is not right. It is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until the morning, will we not be punished? Come on, let us go and inform the king’s household.”
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeeper, saying, “We have come from the Aramean camp, and there was no one there, not a sound from anyone. Yet, the horses are tied up, and the donkeys are tied up, and the tents are the way they were.”
14 The Eucharist Versus Pagan Sacrifices.[a] Therefore, my dear friends, avoid idolatry at all costs.[b] 15 I am talking to you as sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Consider the people of Israel.[c] Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What then am I implying? That meat sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20 No, I simply mean that pagan sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Do we truly wish to provoke the Lord to jealous anger?[d] Are we stronger than he is?
23 Concerning Idol Offerings.“All things are lawful,” you may say—but not all things are beneficial. All things may be lawful—but not all things are constructive. 24 No one should seek his own advantage in preference to that of his neighbor. 25 You may eat whatever meat is sold in the market without raising questions on grounds of conscience, 26 for “the earth and all it contains belong to the Lord.”
27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to accept, eat whatever is set before you without raising any questions on the grounds of conscience. 28 However, if someone says to you, “This food was offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience— 29 I mean the other person’s conscience, not your own. For why should my freedom be governed by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake of the meal with thankfulness, why should I be criticized for eating food for which I give thanks?
31 Give No Offense. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own good but that of the many, so that they may be saved.
Chapter 11
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
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