Moses said: So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you
to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your
ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take
away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am
charging you.
You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the
peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise
and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our
God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as
just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?
But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes
have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to
your children and your children’s children.
The Psalm
Psalm 15
Domine, quis habitabit?
1 LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
who may abide upon your holy hill?
2 Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
who speaks the truth from his heart.
3 There is no guile upon his tongue;
he does no evil to his friend; *
he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
4 In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
but he honors those who fear the LORD.
5 He has sworn to do no wrong *
and does not take back his word.
6 He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
7 Whoever does these things *
shall never be overthrown.
The Epistle
James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of
his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of
first fruits of his creatures.
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow
to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of
all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted
word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are
hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;
for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers
who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their
religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to
care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
The Gospel
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around
him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without
washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash
their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the
market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the
washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him,
“Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled
hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:
there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are
what defile.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come:
fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy,
slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
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