Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Bride
8 “Listen! My beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping (A)on the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
9 My beloved is like a (B)gazelle or a (C)young [a]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering (D)through the lattice.
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘(E)Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 The blossoms have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for [b]pruning the vines,
And the voice of the (F)turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 The (G)fig tree has ripened its fruit,
And the (H)vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
6 (A)Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
(B)The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You have (C)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (D)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (E)myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
From ivory palaces (F)stringed instruments have made You joyful.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (G)Your noble women;
At Your (H)right hand stands the queen in (I)gold from Ophir.
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is (A)from above, coming down from (B)the Father of lights, (C)with whom there is no variation or [a]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of (D)His will He (E)gave us birth by (F)the word of truth, so that we would be [b]a kind of (G)first fruits [c]among His creatures.
19 [d](H)You know this, (I)my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, (J)slow to speak, and (K)slow to anger; 20 for a man’s (L)anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, (M)ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all [e]that remains of wickedness, in [f]humility receive (N)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 (O)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [g]natural face (P)in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [h]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, (Q)the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [i]an active doer, this person will be (R)blessed in [j]what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not [k](S)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (T)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (U)visit (V)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [l]by (W)the world.
Followers of Tradition
7 (A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came (B)from Jerusalem, 2 and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with [a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they [b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the (D)tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they [c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the [d]washing of (E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the (F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with [e](G)unholy hands?” 6 But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘(H)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 (I)And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the (J)tradition of men.”
The Heart of Mankind
14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person[a].”
21 For from within, out of the [a]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, 22 deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, [b](A)envy, slander, [c]pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.