Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
9 God, I will sing a new song to you.
I will play to you on the ten-stringed harp.
10 You give victory to kings.
You save your servant David from cruel swords.
11 Save me, rescue me from these foreigners.
They are liars.
They are dishonest.
12 Let our sons in their youth
grow like strong trees.
Let our daughters be
like the decorated stones in the Temple.
13 Let our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
Let our sheep in the fields have
thousands and thousands of lambs.
14 Let our cattle be strong.
Let no one break in.
Let there be no war.
Let there be no screams in our streets.
15 Happy are those who are like this.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
The Friends Speak
5 Who is this coming out of the desert,
leaning on her lover?
The Man Speaks to the Woman
I woke you under the apple tree.
It was there that you were born.
There your mother gave birth to you.
6 Put me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
Love is as strong as death.
Desire is as strong as the grave.
Love bursts into flames.
It burns like a very hot fire.
7 Even much water cannot put out the flame of love.
Floods cannot drown love.
If a man offered everything in his house for love,
people would totally reject it.
9 Then Jesus said to them: “You think you are clever! You ignore the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! 10 Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’[a] Then Moses also said, ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’[b] 11 But you teach that a person can say to his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. I will give it to God.’ 12 You are telling that person that he does not have to do anything for his father or mother. 13 So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think that it is more important to follow your own rules, which you teach people. And you do many things like that.”
14 Jesus called the people to him again. He said, “Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying. 15 There is nothing a person puts into his body that makes him unclean. A person is made unclean by the things that come out of him. 16 [Let those with ears use them and listen!]”[c]
17 When Jesus left the people and went inside, his followers asked him about this story. 18 Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean. 19 Food does not go into a person’s mind. Food goes into his stomach. Then that food goes out of his body.” (When Jesus said this, he meant that there is no food that is unclean for people to eat.)
20 And Jesus said, “The things that come out of a man are the things that make him unclean. 21 All these evil things begin inside a person, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, 22 selfishness, doing bad things to other people, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, saying bad things about people, pride, and foolish living. 23 All these evil things come from within a person. These things make a person unclean.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.