Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion, which (A)cannot be moved but (B)remains forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (C)the Lord surrounds His people
(D)From this time and forever.
3 For the (E)scepter of wickedness will not rest upon the [a]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (F)will not extend their hands to do wrong.
The Sin of Partiality
2 (A)My brothers and sisters, (B)do not hold your faith in our (C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (D)personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your [a]assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in (E)bright clothes, and a poor man in (F)dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and you [b]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (H)with evil [c]motives? 5 Listen, (I)my beloved brothers and sisters: did (J)God not choose the poor [d]of this world to be (K)rich in faith and (L)heirs of the kingdom which He (M)promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [e]personally (N)drag you into [f]court? 7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the good name [g]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [h]royal law according to the Scripture, “(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you (R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet (S)stumbles in one point, has become (T)guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “(A)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(B)Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12 So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by (C)the law of freedom. 13 For (D)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [a]triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
14 (A)What use is it, (B)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can [a]that faith save him? 15 (C)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(D)Go in peace, [b]be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, (E)faith also, if it has no works, is [c]dead, being by itself.
The Syrophoenician Woman
24 (A)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of (B)Tyre[a]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a [b]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not [c]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the [d]dogs.” 28 But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” 29 And He said to her, “Because of this [e]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And after going back to her home, she found the child [f]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 (C)Again He left the region of (D)Tyre and came through Sidon to (E)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of (F)Decapolis. 32 And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to (G)lay His hand on him. 33 And Jesus (H)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after (I)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34 and looking up to heaven with a deep (J)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35 And his ears were opened, and the [g]impediment of his tongue was [h]removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36 And (K)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they (L)continued to proclaim it. 37 And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”
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