Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(RY: iv, LY: vii) ¹⁵ “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — ¹⁶ in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; (LY: Maftir) ¹⁸ I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.

¹⁹ “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, ²⁰ loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”

Haftarah Nitzavim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 61:10–63:9

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Nitzavim: Romans 9:30–10:13; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 12:14 –15

א (Alef)

3 As for me, brothers, I couldn’t talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as babies, so far as experience with the Messiah is concerned. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. But you aren’t ready for it now either! ³ For you are still worldly! Isn’t it obvious from all the jealousy and quarrelling among you that you are worldly and living by merely human standards? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Sha’ul” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you being merely human? ⁵ After all, what is Apollos? What is Sha’ul? Only servants through whom you came to trust. Indeed, it was the Lord who brought you to trust through one of us or through another. ⁶ I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. ⁷ So neither the planter nor the waterer is anything, only God who makes things grow — ⁸ planter and waterer are the same.

However, each will be rewarded according to his work. ⁹ For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

²¹ “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not murder,’^[a] and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. ²² But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, ‘Fool!’ incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom! ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift. ²⁵ If someone sues you, come to terms with him quickly, while you and he are on the way to court; or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer of the court, and you may be thrown in jail! ²⁶ Yes indeed! I tell you, you will certainly not get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not commit adultery.’^{[b] 28} But I tell you that a man who even looks at a woman with the purpose of lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom. ³⁰ And if your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom.

³¹ “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a get.’^{[c] 32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and that anyone who marries a divorcee commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not break your oath,’ and ‘Keep your vows to Adonai.’^{[d] 34} But I tell you not to swear at all — not ‘by heaven,’ because it is God’s throne; ³⁵ not ‘by the earth,’ because it is his footstool;^[e] and not ‘by Yerushalayim,’ because it is the city of the Great King.^{[f] 36} And don’t swear by your head, because you can’t make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ Just let your ‘Yes’ be a simple ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ a simple ‘No’; anything more than this has its origin in evil.