Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Other rules
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Speak to Israel's people. They must be holy because I am holy. You must tell them that.
9 When a person cuts the plants in his field, he must not cut to the edge of the field. He must not pick up what he drops. 10 If a person grows fruit to make wine, he must not pick all the fruit. He must not pick up the fruit that drops. The fruit that drops is for the poor people. And it is for those who are foreign. I am the Lord your God.
11 You must not take something that belongs to another person. You must not say something that is not true. You must obey my rules.
12 You must not use the name of your God to say a promise. This will make my name unclean. I am the Lord.
13 You must not rob another person. You must not keep a slave's money until the morning.
14 You must not speak bad words against a person who is deaf. You must not put something in front of a blind person, to make them fall down. I am the Lord. Obey me.
15 You must be fair to other people when you judge them. You must not be more kind to a rich person than to a poor person. You must be fair to everyone.
16 You must not speak bad words about other people. If somebody is in danger of death, do not keep quiet if you know the truth. I am the Lord.
17 You must not think bad thoughts about another person. A person may do something that is wrong. You must tell him that he is doing a wrong thing. If you do, you will not be a part of the wrong thing.
18 You must not try to punish a person who has done something wrong against you. You must not continue to hate a person like that. Instead, you must love other people as much you love yourself. I am the Lord.
HE
33 Lord, help me to understand your teaching,
then I will always obey it.
34 Explain your Law to me, then I will obey it.
I will always love to do what it says.
35 Help me to live in a way that respects your commands.
That is what makes me very happy.
36 Help me to love your rules.
That is better for me than riches.
37 Turn my eyes away from useless things.
Use your word to help me to live.
38 I am your servant.
Please do what you have promised to do.
You have promised to bless anyone who respects you.
39 I am afraid when people insult me.
Your rules are good,
so do not let me be ashamed.
40 I really want to obey your rules.
Because you are righteous,
please let me continue to live.
10 I am like a good builder. God has given that job to me and he has helped me to do it well. I was the person who built the foundation. Now other people are building on that foundation.[a] But each person must be careful how he builds. 11 God has already put Jesus Christ as the only foundation of this building. So nobody can put any other foundation there.
16 You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you. 17 If anyone destroys God's special house, then God will destroy that person. And you are like that house. You belong to God in a special way.
18 Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool. 19 People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible:
‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’[a]
20 In another place, the Bible says:
‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of wise people have no value.’[b]
21 Because of that, you should not be proud of any human leader. All leaders are there to serve you, as God's people. 22 Do not be proud of Paul, Apollos or Peter. We belong to you. All of this world, and life and death belong to you. The things of today and tomorrow belong to you. Everything belongs to you, 23 you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Jesus teaches how to love people
38 Jesus then said, ‘You also know that God's Law says: “If somebody destroys your eye, then you should destroy that person's eye. If somebody destroys your tooth, then you should destroy that person's tooth.” 39 But what I tell you is this. If somebody does something bad to you, do not do anything against him.[a] Somebody may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should also let him slap the other side of your face.
40 Maybe somebody wants to take you to the judge. He says that you should give him your shirt. Give the man your shirt, and give him your coat too. 41 Or a soldier may tell you, “Carry my luggage for one kilometre.” You should do that. Even agree to carry it for two kilometres. 42 When people ask you for something, you should give it to them. If they ask you to lend them something, then you should not refuse.
43 You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.” 44 What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people want to give you pain, pray for them. Pray that God would help them. 45 If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him. 46 Do you only love people who love you? God will not give you good things just for doing that. Even the men who take taxes love their friends![b]
47 If you are only kind to your friends, then you are not doing anything special. Even people who do not believe in God do that. 48 So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’
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