Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ב (Bet)
9 How can a young person[a] maintain a pure life?[b]
By guarding it according to your instructions.[c]
10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands.
11 In my heart I store up[d] your words,[e]
so I might not sin against you.
12 You deserve praise,[f] O Lord.
Teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed.[g]
14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules[h]
as if[i] they were riches of all kinds.[j]
15 I will meditate on[k] your precepts
and focus on[l] your behavior.[m]
16 I find delight[n] in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions.[o]
21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he[a] will surely[b] hold you accountable as a sinner.[c] 22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please,[d] but you must not take away any in a container.[e] 25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand,[f] but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
24 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent[g] in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 2 When she has left him[h] she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects[i] her and then divorces her,[j] gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry[k] her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord.[l] You must not bring guilt on the land[m] that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.[a] 11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.[b] 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.[c] 13 You must by all means[d] return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just deed[e] by the Lord your God.
14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites[f] or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.[g] 15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Prejudice and the Law of Love
2 My brothers and sisters,[a] do not show prejudice[b] if you possess faith[c] in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.[d] 2 For if someone[e] comes into your assembly[f] wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, 3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say,[g] “You sit here in a good place,”[h] and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”?[i] 4 If so, have you not made distinctions[j] among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?[k] 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters![l] Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor![m] Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to?[n] 8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture,[o] “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”[p] you are doing well. 9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.[q] 10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails[r] in one point has become guilty of all of it.[s] 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,”[t] also said, “Do not murder.”[u] Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. 12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.[v] 13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over[w] judgment.
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