Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book One
The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.
1 [a]Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example],
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of [b]scoffers (ridiculers).
2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.(A)
3
And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season;
Its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].(B)
4
The wicked [those who live in disobedience to God’s law] are not so,
But they are like the chaff [worthless and without substance] which the wind blows away.
5
Therefore the wicked will not stand [unpunished] in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6
For the Lord knows and fully approves the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked shall perish.
25 “So I fell down and lay face down before the Lord forty days and nights because the Lord had said He would destroy you. 26 Then I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought from Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember [with compassion] Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or at their sin, 28 so that the [people of the] land from which You brought us will not say, “Because the Lord was not capable of bringing them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to the wilderness [in order] to kill them.” 29 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.’
The Tablets Rewritten
10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark (chest) of wood for yourself. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain [a]with the two tablets in my hand. 4 The Lord wrote on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten [b]Commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; then the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and they are there, just as the Lord commanded me.”
7 And in all things show yourself to be an example of good works, with purity in doctrine [having the strictest regard for integrity and truth], dignified, 8 sound and beyond reproach in instruction, so that the opponent [of the faith] will be shamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
11 For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that [a]brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to reject ungodliness and worldly (immoral) desires, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives [lives with a purpose that reflect spiritual maturity] in this present age, 13 awaiting and confidently expecting the [fulfillment of our] blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who [willingly] gave Himself [to be crucified] on our behalf to redeem us and purchase our freedom from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a chosen and very special people to be His own possession, who are enthusiastic for doing what is good.(A)
15 Tell them these things. Encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one disregard or despise you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect].
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