Scripture Reading for the
Common Calendar Year
(beginning January 1st)

March 4

Text taken from the
Third Millennium Bible^® (TMB^®)
(New Authorized Version^TM NAV^TM)

The Lectionary According to the Common CalendarPsalm 58

1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?
Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness;
ye weigh out violence by your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,
5 which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charm they ever so wisely.

6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth;
break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD!
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually;
when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away like the untimely birth of a woman,
that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, He shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
both living, and in His wrath.

10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance;
he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 so that a man shall say, "Verily there is a reward for the righteous;
verily He is a God that judgeth on the earth."

Matthew 19:16-26

16 And behold, one came and said unto Him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" 17 And He said unto him,

"Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into Life, keep the commandments."

18 He said unto Him, "Which?" Jesus said,

"'Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; 19 honor thy father and thy mother; and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'"

20 The young man said unto Him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet?" 21 Jesus said unto him,

"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come and follow Me."

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 Then said Jesus unto His disciples,

"Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."

25 When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus beheld them and said unto them,

"With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Romans 3:1-20

1 What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way; chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 God forbid! Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. As it is written:

"That Thou mightest be justified in Thy sayings,
and mightest overcome when Thou art judged."

5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man.) 6 God forbid! For then how shall God judge the world? 7 For if the truth of God through my lie hath abounded more unto His glory, why am I also yet judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say rather (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil, that good may come"? Their damnation is just!

9 What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise! For we have before proved that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. 10 As it is written:

"There is none righteous,
no, not one;
11 there is none that understandeth;
there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They have all gone from the way;
they have together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good,
no, not one."
13 "Their throat is an open sepulcher;
with their tongues they have used deceit."
"The poison of asps is under their lips,"
14 "whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 destruction and misery are in their ways,
17 and the way of peace have they not known."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

19 Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Leviticus 20:1-13

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 2 "Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel: `Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who giveth any of his seed unto Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 And I will set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do in any way hide their eyes from the man when he giveth of his seed unto Molech and kill him not, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family and will cut him off, and all who go a whoring after him to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

6 "`And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits and after wizards to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul and will cut him off from among his people.

7 "`Sanctify yourselves therefore and be ye holy, for I am the LORD your God.

8 "`And ye shall keep My statutes and do them: I am the LORD who sanctify you.

9 "`For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. He hath cursed his father or his mother: his blood shall be upon him.

10 "`And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them. 12 And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have wrought confusion: their blood shall be upon them.

13 "`If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them.

Words of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 2:26a

For God giveth to a man what is good in His sight: wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God.