Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
137 [a]You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgments are right.
138 You have set down your statutes as righteous
and as completely faithful.
139 Zeal has consumed me
because my adversaries ignore your words.
140 Your word has been tested through and through,[b]
and your servant cherishes it.
141 Although I am despised and unimportant,
I do not forget your commands.
142 Your righteousness is everlasting,
and your law is forever true.
143 I am afflicted by anguish and distress,
but your precepts are my delight.
144 Your statutes are forever righteous;
grant me understanding and I will live.
Qoph
Warning to the Arrogant
5 Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
those who are arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats as wide as Sheol
and are as unstable as death.
They gather to themselves all the nations
and make a harvest of all the peoples.
6 Everyone should taunt such people
and turn on them with mockery and say,
“Woe to you who store up
what is not your own.
Woe to you who enrich yourself
with goods taken in pledge.
7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will not those who make you tremble wake up?
Will you not become a victim to them?
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the nations that survive will plunder you
because of the bloodshed and the violence
you have inflicted on cities
and all their inhabitants.
9 “Woe to the one who amasses
ill-gotten gains for his household
so as to set his nest on high
and thereby evade the reach of misfortune.
10 You have managed to bring shame upon your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have placed your own life in jeopardy.
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the beam will respond from the woodwork.
39 The Jews said to him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them,
“If you were Abraham’s children,
you would be doing the works that Abraham did.
40 But now you seek to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth
that I heard from God.
This is not what Abraham did.
41 You are doing the works of your father!”
They retorted, “We are not illegitimate children. We have one father—God.” 42 Jesus said to them,
“If God were your father,
you would love me,
for I came from God;
neither did I come of my own will,
but he was the one who sent me.
43 Why do you not understand
what I am saying?
It is because you cannot bear
to hear my words.
44 “You are from your father, the devil,
and you choose to carry out your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
and he does not abide by the truth,
for there is no truth in him.
When he lies,
he speaks in accord with his own nature,
for he is a liar
and the father of lies.
45 But because I speak the truth
you refuse to believe me.
46 “Which of you can convict me of sin?
If I say what is true,
why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever comes from God
listens to the words of God.
The reason why you refuse to listen
is that you do not belong to God.”
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