Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 65
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
1 You are praised with silence in Zion, O Elohim,
and vows made to you must be kept.
2 You are the one who hears prayers.
Everyone will come to you.
3 Various sins overwhelm me.
You are the one who forgives our rebellious acts.
4 Blessed is the person you choose
and invite to live with you in your courtyards.
We will be filled with good food from your house,
from your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awe-inspiring acts done in righteousness,
O Elohim, our savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the most distant sea,
6 the one who set the mountains in place with his strength,
the one who is clothed with power,
7 the one who calms the roar of the seas,
their crashing waves,
and the uproar of the nations.
8 Those who live at the ends of the earth are in awe of your miraculous signs.
The lands of the morning sunrise and evening sunset sing joyfully.
9 You take care of the earth, and you water it.
You make it much richer than it was.
(The river of Elohim is filled with water.)
You provide grain for them.
Indeed, you even prepare the ground.
10 You drench plowed fields with rain
and level their clumps of soil.
You soften them with showers
and bless what grows in them.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and richness overflows wherever you are.
12 The pastures in the desert overflow with richness.
The hills are surrounded with joy.
13 The pastures are covered with flocks.
The valleys are carpeted with grain.
All of them shout triumphantly. Indeed, they sing.
The Lord Will Refine His People Before He Rescues Them from Babylon
48 Listen to this, descendants of Jacob!
You are given the name of Israel.
You are descended from Judah.[a]
You take oaths by the name of Yahweh.
You acknowledge the Elohim of Israel,
but you are not honest or sincere.
2 You call yourselves citizens of the holy city.
You depend on the Elohim of Israel.
His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth.
3 From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen.
These words came out of my mouth,
and I made them known.
Suddenly, I acted, and they happened.
4 I know that you are stubborn.
Like iron, you are hardheaded.
Like bronze, nothing gets through your thick skull.
5 That is why I revealed to you what would happen long ago.
I told you about them before they happened.
I did this so you couldn’t say,
“My gods have done these things.
My carved idols and my metal idols
have commanded them to happen.”
12 Here’s the reason: Whoever sins without having the laws in Moses’ Teachings will still be condemned to destruction. And whoever has these laws from God and sins will still be judged by them. 13 People who merely listen to the laws in Moses’ Teachings don’t have God’s approval. Rather, people who do what those laws demand will have God’s approval.
God Will Judge People Who Are Not Jewish
14 For example, whenever non-Jews who don’t have the laws in Moses’ Teachings do by nature the things that those laws contain, they are a law to themselves even though they don’t have any of those laws. 15 They show that some requirements found in Moses’ Teachings are written in their hearts. Their consciences speak to them. Their thoughts accuse them on one occasion and defend them on another. 16 This happens as they face the day when God, through Christ Yeshua, will judge people’s secret thoughts. He will use the Good News that I am spreading to make that judgment.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.