Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
8 “[a]Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Climbing (A)on the mountains,
Leaping on the hills!
9 “My beloved is like a (B)gazelle or a (C)young [b]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering (D)through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘(E)Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for [c]pruning the vines,
And the voice of the (F)turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The (G)fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the (H)vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
6 (A)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of (B)uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have (C)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (D)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (E)myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces (F)stringed instruments have made You glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (G)Your noble ladies;
At Your (H)right hand stands the queen in (I)gold from Ophir.
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is (A)from above, coming down from (B)the Father of lights, (C)with whom there is no variation or [a]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of (D)His will He (E)brought us forth by (F)the word of truth, so that we would be [b]a kind of (G)first fruits [c]among His creatures.
19 [d]This (H)you know, (I)my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, (J)slow to speak and (K)slow to anger; 20 for (L)the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, (M)putting aside all filthiness and all [e]that remains of wickedness, in [f]humility receive (N)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 (O)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [g]natural face (P)in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [h]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, (Q)the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [i]an effectual doer, this man will be (R)blessed in [j]what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not [k](S)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (T)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (U)visit (V)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [l]by (W)the world.
Followers of Tradition
7 (A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come (B)from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with (C)impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they [a]carefully wash their hands, thus observing the (D)traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they [b]cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the [c]washing of (E)cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the (F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with (G)impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘(H)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 ‘(I)But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the (J)tradition of men.”
The Heart of Man
14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.