Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The 2nd Hallelujah Psalm
147 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing to praise our God!
Yes, it is right to praise him and it makes us happy.
2 The Lord is building Jerusalem again.
He is bringing home the Israelite exiles.
3 He makes people who are very sad well again.[a]
He helps their wounds to get better.
4 He decided how many stars there should be in the sky.
He has given a name to each of them.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
He understands everything!
6 The Lord gives help to poor people,
but he knocks down wicked people to the ground.
7 Offer a song to the Lord,
to thank him for what he has done.
Make music with a harp
to praise our God.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to make the earth wet.
He causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He gives food for the animals to eat.
He feeds the young ravens when they cry.[b]
10 If a horse is very strong,
that does not please him.
If a soldier is brave,
that does not make him happy.
11 Who does make the Lord happy?
People who respect him and serve him well.
People who trust him because they know he loves them.
20 He has not done that for any other nation.
They do not know his laws.[a]
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
10 Righteous people take care of their animals.
But wicked people are cruel even when they think they are kind.
11 A farmer who works hard will have plenty of food to eat.
But anyone who works only on useless things is foolish.
12 Wicked people want to take the things that other bad people have.
But righteous people remain strong, with deep roots.
13 The lies of evil people put them in trouble.
But righteous people escape from trouble.
14 If you say good things, you will receive good things that make you happy.
You will receive what you deserve from the things that you do.
15 Foolish people always do what seems right to them.
But wise people listen to advice from others.
16 When a fool becomes angry, everybody knows it!
But a careful person keeps quiet when someone insults him.
17 Honest people speak the truth in court.
But a person who tells lies never says what is true.
18 If you speak in a careless way, you may hurt other people.
But when wise people speak, it makes people feel well.
19 True words continue to be true for ever.
But people quickly see that lies are lies.
20 Someone who wants to cause trouble has a mind that is full of lies.
But someone who wants to bring peace has a mind that is full of joy.
21 Trouble keeps away from righteous people.
But wicked people have trouble all the time.
2 Listen carefully! I, Paul, tell you this. If you agree that someone should circumcise you, then Christ will be worth nothing to you. 3 I will say it very clearly. Every man who lets someone circumcise him must then obey all the Jewish rules. 4 I say this to you people who try to obey the rules of God's Law. If you think that God will accept you as right because you do that, you have turned away from Christ. You no longer agree to accept God's kind gift. 5 But if we trust what Christ has done for us, God's Spirit helps us to wait. We are sure that God will accept us as right with him. 6 We belong to Christ Jesus. So it does not matter whether anyone has circumcised us or not. The only thing that matters is that we believe in Christ. As a result we will love others in the way that we live.
7 Like good runners, you were doing very well! You should not have let anyone turn you away from God's true message. 8 It is not God who has caused you to change what you believe. No! God is the one who has chosen you to serve him. 9 People say this: ‘Only a small amount of yeast in the flour will cause a loaf of bread to grow big.’[a] 10 But I feel sure about you, because we belong to the Lord. I know that you will agree with what I say about this. But as for the man who is confusing you, God will punish him. It does not matter who he is, God will punish him.
11 My Christian friends, do you think that I still teach that someone must circumcise believers? If I really taught that, then I would not still receive trouble from people. What I teach about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry. 12 Those people who are causing trouble and want to circumcise you should cut their own bodies! Yes, that is what they should do!
Live by God's Spirit
13 My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other. 14 One rule brings together all the rules in God's Law. That one rule says: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’[b] 15 So you must not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you live like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely.
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