Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
4 Say to those with (A)anxious heart,
“Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with (B)vengeance;
The (C)recompense of God will come,
But He will (D)save you.”
5 Then the (E)eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
6 Then the (F)lame will leap like a deer,
And the (G)tongue of the mute will shout for joy.
For waters will break forth in the (H)wilderness
And streams in the [a]Arabah.
7 The [b]scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground (I)springs of water;
In the (J)haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
The Lord an Abundant Helper.
146 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
(A)Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord (B)while I live;
I will (C)sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 (D)Do not trust in princes,
In [c]mortal (E)man, in whom there is (F)no salvation.
4 His (G)spirit departs, he (H)returns to [d]the earth;
In that very day his (I)thoughts perish.
5 How (J)blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose (K)hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who (L)made heaven and earth,
The (M)sea and all that is in them;
Who (N)keeps [e]faith forever;
7 Who (O)executes justice for the oppressed;
Who (P)gives food to the hungry.
The Lord (Q)sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord (R)opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord (S)raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord (T)loves the righteous;
9 The Lord [f](U)protects the [g]strangers;
He [h](V)supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He [i]thwarts (W)the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will (X)reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
[j]Praise [k]the Lord!
The Sin of Partiality
2 (A)My brethren, (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 dressed in [b](E)fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in (F)dirty clothes, 3 and you [c]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)fine 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 [d]motives? 5 Listen, (I)my beloved brethren: did not (J)God choose the poor [e]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 [f]personally (N)drag you into [g]court? 7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the fair name [h]by which you have been called?
8 If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [i]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 [j]law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole [k]law and yet (S)stumbles in one point, he has become (T)guilty of all.
11 For He who said, “(A)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(B)Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the [a]law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by (C)the law of liberty. 13 For (D)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [b]triumphs over judgment.
Faith and Works
14 (A)What use is it, (B)my brethren, 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,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so (E)faith, if it has no works, is [c]dead, being by itself.
The Syrophoenician Woman
24 (A)Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of (B)Tyre[a]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; [b]yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a [c]Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking 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 [d]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the 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 going back to her home, she found the child [f]lying on the bed, the demon having left.
31 (C)Again He went out from the region of (D)Tyre, and came through Sidon to (E)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of (F)Decapolis. 32 They *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *implored Him to (G)lay His hand on him. 33 (H)Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into 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 [h]was 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 They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
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