Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book V
Psalms 107–150
107 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
2 Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story.
He set them free from the power of the enemy.
3 He brought them back from other lands.
He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some of them wandered in deserts that were dry and empty.
They couldn’t find a city where they could make their homes.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
Their lives were slipping away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight
to a city where they could make their homes.
33 He turned rivers into a desert.
He turned flowing springs into thirsty ground.
34 He turned land that produced crops into a salty land where nothing could grow.
He did it because the people who lived there were evil.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water.
He turned the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.
36 He brought hungry people there to live.
They built a city where they could make their homes.
37 They planted fields and vineyards
that produced large crops.
15 The house Rahab lived in was part of the city wall. So she let the spies down by a rope through the window. 16 She said to them, “Go up into the hills. The men chasing you won’t be able to find you. Hide yourselves there for three days until they return. Then you can go on your way.”
17 The spies had said to her, “You made us give our word. But we won’t keep our promise 18 unless you do what we say. When we enter the land, you must tie this bright red rope in the window. Tie it in the window you let us down through. Bring your father and mother into your house. Also bring in your brothers and everyone else in your family. 19 None of you must go out into the street. If you do, anything that happens to you will be your own fault. We won’t be responsible. But if anyone hurts someone who is inside the house with you, it will be our fault. We will be responsible. 20 Don’t tell anyone what we’re doing. If you do, we won’t have to keep the promise you asked us to make.”
21 “I agree,” Rahab replied. “I’ll do as you say.”
So she sent them away, and they left. Then she tied the bright red rope in the window.
22 When the spies left, they went up into the hills. They stayed there for three days. By that time the men chasing them had searched all along the road. They couldn’t find them. So they returned. 23 Then the two spies started back. They went down out of the hills. They went across the Jordan River. They came to Joshua, the son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said, “We’re sure the Lord has given the whole land over to us. All the people there are weak with fear because of us.”
How Terrible for the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13-14 “How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter. And you will not let those enter who are trying to.
15 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You travel everywhere to win one person to your faith. Then you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “How terrible for you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone makes a promise in the name of the temple, it means nothing. But anyone who makes a promise in the name of the gold of the temple must keep that promise.’ 17 You are blind and foolish! Which is more important? Is it the gold? Or is it the temple that makes the gold holy? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone makes a promise in the name of the altar, it means nothing. But anyone who makes a promise in the name of the gift on the altar must keep that promise.’ 19 You are blind! Which is more important? Is it the gift? Or is it the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 So anyone making a promise in the name of the altar makes a promise in the name of it and everything on it. 21 And anyone making a promise in the name of the temple makes a promise in the name of it and the one who lives in it. 22 And anyone making a promise in the name of heaven makes a promise in the name of God’s throne and the one who sits on it.
23 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You give God a tenth of your spices, like mint, dill and cumin. But you have not practiced the more important things of the law, which are fairness, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the last things without failing to do the first. 24 You blind guides! You remove the smallest insect from your food. But you swallow a whole camel!
25 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You clean the outside of a cup and dish. But on the inside you are full of greed. You only want to satisfy yourselves. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish. Then the outside will also be clean.
27 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You are like tombs that are painted white. They look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside they are full of the bones of the dead. They are also full of other things that are not pure and ‘clean.’ 28 It is the same with you. On the outside you seem to be doing what is right. But on the inside you are full of what is wrong. You pretend to be what you are not.
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