Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
9 [a]I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on a ten-stringed lyre I will play music for you.[b]
10 You grant victory to kings
and deliverance to your servant David from the cruel sword.[c]
11 Deliver me and rescue me
from the hands of foreign foes
whose mouths utter lies
and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.[d]
12 [e]May our sons in their youth
be like carefully nurtured plants,
and may our daughters be like pillars
designed to adorn a palace.[f]
13 May our barns be filled
with every kind of crop.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields,[g]
14 and may our cattle be well fed.[h]
May there be no breach in our walls,
no going into exile,
no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people for whom this is true;
blessed[i] are the people whose God is the Lord.
Epilogue
Love Is as Strong as Death[a]
Companions:
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness
leaning on her beloved?
Bridegroom:
Under the apple tree[b] I awakened you;
it was there that your mother conceived you,
and there where she who conceived you bore you.
Bride:
6 [c]Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,[d]
and ardor is as relentless as the netherworld.
Its flames are flashes of fire,
an unending blaze.[e]
7 Flood waters cannot quench love,
nor can torrents drown it.
If one were to offer all his wealth for love,
he would be regarded with contempt.
9 Then he said to them, “How cleverly you have set aside the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother will be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: “Anything I might have used for your support is Corban” ’[a] (that is, dedicated to God), 12 then he is forbidden by you from that very moment to do anything for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things just like that.”
14 Clean and Unclean.[b] Then he called the people to him and said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into a person from outside that can defile him. The things that come out of a person are what defile him. [ 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!]”[c]
17 When he had gone into the house, away from the crowds, his disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.
20 Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.