Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 125[a]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(A)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(B)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[b]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
Chapter 2
Sin of Partiality.[a] 1 My brothers, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if a man with gold rings on his fingers and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?[b]
5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor[c] in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?(A) 6 But you dishonored the poor person. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you?(B) 8 However, if you fulfill the royal[d] law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.(C) 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.(D) 10 For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.(E)
11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not kill.”(A) Even if you do not commit adultery but kill, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 (B)So speak and so act as people who will be judged by the law of freedom.[a] 13 For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.(C)
Faith and Works.[b]
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?(A) 15 If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?(B) 17 So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith. 24 (A)From that place he went off to the district of Tyre.[a] He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.(B) 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.[b] For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
The Healing of a Deaf Man. 31 (C)Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 [c]He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.