Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ת (Tav)
169 Let my cry come before you, Adonai;
in keeping with your word, give me understanding.
170 Let my prayer come before you;
in keeping with your promise, rescue me.
171 Let my lips speak praise,
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing of your promise,
because all your mitzvot are righteous.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
because I choose your precepts.
174 I long for your deliverance, Adonai;
and your Torah is my delight.
175 Let me live, and I will praise you;
let your rulings help me.
176 I strayed like a lost sheep; seek out your servant;
for I do not forget your mitzvot.
13 Just then, as Yarov‘am was standing by the altar to burn incense, a man of God came out of Y’hudah, directed to Beit-El by a word from Adonai. 2 And by the word from Adonai he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar, here is what Adonai says: ‘A son will be born to the house of David; his name will be Yoshiyahu; and on you he will sacrifice the cohanim of the high places who burn incense on you! They will burn human bones on you!’” 3 That same day he also gave a sign: “Here is the sign which Adonai has decreed:
“‘The altar will be split apart;
the ashes on it will be scattered about.’”
4 When the king heard what the man of God said, how he denounced the altar in Beit-El, Yarov‘am took his hand away from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But his hand, the one he had stretched out against him, shriveled up; so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 Also the altar was split apart, and the ashes scattered from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of Adonai. 6 The king then responded to the man of God. “Ask now the favor of Adonai your God,” he said, “and pray for me, that my hand will be restored to me.” The man of God prayed to Adonai, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it had been before. 7 The king then said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. 8 But the man of God replied to the king, “Even if you give me half your household, I will not accept your hospitality; nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. 9 For this is the order I received through the word of Adonai: ‘Don’t eat food or drink water, and don’t return by the road you took when you came.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the road by which he had come to Beit-El.
9 So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. 10 As the Tanakh puts it,
“There is no one righteous, not even one!
No one understands,
11 no one seeks God,
12 all have turned away
and at the same time become useless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one![a]
13 “Their throats are open graves,
they use their tongues to deceive.[b]
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[c]
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.[d]
15 “Their feet rush to shed blood,
16 in their ways are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of shalom they do not know.[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]
19 Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God’s adverse judgment. 20 For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous[g] on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.