Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²¹ You might make a promise to give something to the Lord your God. Do not be slow to pay it. The Lord your God demands it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. ²² But if you do not make the promise, you will not be guilty. ²³ You must do whatever you say you will do. You chose to make the promise to the Lord your God.

²⁴ You might go into your neighbor’s vineyard. You may eat as many grapes as you wish. But do not fill your basket with his grapes. ²⁵ You might go into your neighbor’s grainfield. You may pick grain with your hands. But you must not cut down his grain with your sickle.

24 A man might marry a woman. But he might decide she doesn’t please him. He has found something bad about her. He writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. ² After she leaves his house, she goes and marries another man. ³ But her second husband does not like her either. So he writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. Or the second husband might die. ⁴ In either case, her first husband who divorced her must not marry her again. She has become unclean. The Lord would hate this. Don’t bring this sin into the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.

¹⁰ You might make a loan to your neighbor. But don’t go into his house to get something in place of it. ¹¹ Stay outside. Let the man himself go in and get what he promised you. ¹² A poor man might give you his coat to show he will pay the loan back. But don’t keep his coat overnight. ¹³ Give his coat back to him at sunset. He needs his coat to sleep in. He will thank you. And the Lord your God will see that you have done a good thing.

¹⁴ Don’t cheat a hired servant who is poor and needy. He might be a fellow Israelite. Or he might be a foreigner living in one of your towns. ¹⁵ Pay him each day before sunset. He is poor and needs the money. Otherwise, he may complain to the Lord about you. And you will be guilty of sin.

Love All People

2 My dear brothers, you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. So never think that some people are more important than others. ² Suppose someone comes into your church meeting wearing very nice clothes and a gold ring. At the same time a poor man comes in wearing old, dirty clothes. ³ You show special attention to the one wearing nice clothes. You say, “Please, sit here in this good seat.” But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor by my feet!” ⁴ What are you doing? You are making some people more important than others. With evil thoughts you are deciding which person is better.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers! God chose the poor in the world to be rich with faith. He chose them to receive the kingdom God promised to people who love him. ⁶ But you show no respect to the poor man. And you know that it is the rich who are always trying to control your lives. And they are the ones who take you to court. ⁷ They are the ones who say bad things against Jesus, who owns you.

⁸ One law rules over all other laws. This royal law is found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^[a] If you obey this law, then you are doing right. ⁹ But if you are treating one person as if he were more important than another, then you are sinning. That royal law proves that you are guilty of breaking God’s law. ¹⁰ A person might follow all of God’s law. But if he fails to obey even one command, he is guilty of breaking all the commands in that law. ¹¹ God said, “You must not be guilty of adultery.”^[b] The same God also said, “You must not murder anyone.”^[c] So if you do not take part in adultery, but you murder someone, then you are guilty of breaking all of God’s law. ¹² You will be judged by the law that makes people free. You should remember this in everything you say and do. ¹³ Yes, you must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear when he is judged.