Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁵ “See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. ¹⁶ What I am commanding you today is to love Adonai your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His mitzvot, statutes and ordinances. Then you will live and multiply, and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are going in to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away and bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I tell you today that you will certainly perish! You will not prolong your days on the land, where you are about to cross over the Jordan to go in to possess.

¹⁹ “I call the heavens and the earth to witness about you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ by loving Adonai your God, listening to His voice, and clinging to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell on the land that Adonai swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob—to give them.

Learn Torah Letter by Letter

Psalm 119

ALEPH א

Building Together on God’s Foundation

3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as Spirit-filled but as worldly^[a]—as infants in Messiah. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. Indeed, even now you are not yet ready, ³ for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, aren’t you worldly and walking in a human way? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere humans^[b]?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to trust—and to each as the Lord gave. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. ⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters work as one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

²¹ “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,^[a] and whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca’ shall be subject to the council^[b]; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be subject to fiery Gehenna.

²³ “Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

²⁵ “Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back the last penny!^[c]

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ^{[d] 28} But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. ^{[e] 30} And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body go into Gehenna.

³¹ “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ^{[f] 32} But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ ^{[g] 34} But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet;^[h] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ^{[i] 36} And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’—anything more than this is from the evil one.”