Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord Surrounds His People

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers,^{[a] (A)}show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(B)the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” ^(C)while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become ^(D)judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, ^(E)has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be ^(F)rich in faith and heirs of ^(G)the kingdom, ^(H)which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you ^(I)have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who ^(J)drag you ^(K)into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable ^(L)name by which you were called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ^(M)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you ^(N)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point ^(O)has become guilty of all of it.

¹¹ For he who said, ^(A)“Do not commit adultery,” also said, ^(B)“Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under ^(C)the law of liberty. ¹³ For ^(D)judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^(A)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ^15 (B)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ^16 (C)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^[a] is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith

²⁴ And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^[a] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ^26 (A)Now the woman was a ^(B)Gentile, ^(C)a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be ^(D)fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and ^(E)throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's ^(F)crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may ^(G)go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

^31 (H)Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to ^(I)the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the ^(J)Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him ^(K)a man who was deaf and ^(L)had a speech impediment, and they begged him to ^(M)lay his hand on him. ³³ And ^(N)taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and ^(O)after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴ And ^(P)looking up to heaven, ^(Q)he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ^35 (R)And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶ And ^(S)Jesus^[b] charged them to tell no one. But ^(T)the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷ And they were ^(U)astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”