Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jehovah round about his people.

A Song of Ascents.

2 My brethren, ^[a]hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. ² For if there come into your ^[b]synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing; ³ and ye have regard to him that weareth the fine clothing, and say, Sit thou here in a good place; and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool; ^4 [c]do ye not make distinctions ^[d]among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him? ⁶ But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats? ⁷ Do not they blaspheme the honorable name ^[e]by which ye are called? ⁸ Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, ^[f]Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: ⁹ but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.

¹¹ For he that said, ^[a]Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.

¹⁴ What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.

²⁴ And from thence he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre ^[a]and Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would have no man know it; and he could not be hid. ²⁵ But straightway a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[b]Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s ^[c]bread and cast it to the dogs. ²⁸ But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. ²⁹ And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter. ³⁰ And she went away unto her house, and found the child laid upon the bed, and the demon gone out.

³¹ And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis. ³² And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon him. ³³ And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. ³⁶ And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it. ³⁷ And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.