Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Beth.
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By (A)keeping it according to Your word.
10 With (B)all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me (C)wander from Your commandments.
11 Your word I have (D)treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord;
(E)Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have (F)told of
All the (G)ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have (H)rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
[a]As much as in all riches.
15 I will (I)meditate on Your precepts
And [b]regard (J)Your ways.
16 I shall [c](K)delight in Your statutes;
I shall (L)not forget Your word.
21 “(A)When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, [a]and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23 You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have [b]promised.
24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes [c]until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your [d]basket.
25 “(B)When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.
Law of Divorce
24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens [e]that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some (C)indecency in her, and (D)he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband [f]turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her (E)former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
10 “(A)When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge. 11 You shall remain outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. 13 (B)When the sun goes down you shall surely return the pledge to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and (C)it will be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
14 “(D)You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your [a]countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your [b]towns. 15 (E)You shall give him his wages on his day [c]before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his [d]heart on it; so that (F)he will not cry against you to the Lord and it become sin in you.
The Sin of Partiality
2 (A)My brethren, (B)do not hold your faith in our (C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (D)personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your [a]assembly with a gold ring and dressed in [b](E)fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in (F)dirty clothes, 3 and you [c]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (H)with evil [d]motives? 5 Listen, (I)my beloved brethren: did not (J)God choose the poor [e]of this world to be (K)rich in faith and (L)heirs of the kingdom which He (M)promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [f]personally (N)drag you into [g]court? 7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the fair name [h]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [i]royal law according to the Scripture, “(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the [j]law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole [k]law and yet (S)stumbles in one point, he has become (T)guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “(U)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(V)Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the [l]law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by (W)the law of liberty. 13 For (X)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [m]triumphs over judgment.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.