Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
5 Lord, ·listen [L give ear] to my words.
Understand my ·sadness [L moans; sighs].
2 ·Listen [Pay attention] to my cry for help, my King and my God,
because I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I ·tell you what I need [or prepare a sacrifice for you; L stretch out/arrange before you],
and I ·wait for your answer [L watch].
4 You are not a God who ·is pleased with the wicked [takes delight in evil];
·you do not live with those who do evil [L evil does not sojourn with you].
5 Those people who ·make fun of you [or boast] cannot stand before ·you [L your eyes].
You hate all those who do evil.
6 You destroy ·liars [L those who speak lies];
the Lord ·hates [despises] those ·who kill and trick others [L with bloodguilt and deceit].
7 Because of your great ·love [loyalty; covenant love],
I ·can [or will] come into your ·Temple [L house].
Because I ·fear you [hold you in awe],
I can ·worship [bow down] ·in [or toward] your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
·show me the right thing to do [L lead/guide me in your righteousness].
·Show me clearly how you want me to live [L Make your way straight before me].
9 My enemies’ mouths do not tell the truth;
·in their hearts they want to destroy others [L their innards are destruction].
Their throats are like open graves [Rom. 3:13];
they use their tongues for ·telling lies [flattery].
10 God, ·declare them guilty [L make them bear their iniquity]!
Let them fall ·into their own traps [or by their own advice].
·Send [Cast] them away because their ·sins [transgressions] are many;
they have ·turned [rebelled] against you.
11 But let everyone who ·trusts [finds refuge in] you ·be happy [rejoice];
let them sing glad songs forever.
·Protect [L Spread your protection on] those who love you
and ·who are happy because of you [L let those who love your name rejoice in you].
12 Lord, you bless those who ·do what is right [are righteous];
you ·protect them [L surround them with favor] like a shield.
The Lord’s Promises
10 Ask the Lord for rain during the ·springtime [L latter] rains.
The Lord is the one who makes the storm clouds.
He sends the showers
and gives everyone ·green [plants in the] fields.
2 ·Idols [Household gods; L Teraphim; Gen. 31:19] ·tell lies [or give worthless counsel];
fortune-tellers see ·false [lying] visions
and tell about false dreams.
The comfort they give is ·worth nothing [in vain].
So the people ·are [wander] like lost sheep.
They are ·abused [oppressed; or in distress], because there is no shepherd.
3 The Lord says, “·I am angry [My anger burns] at my shepherds,
and I will punish the ·leaders [L lead goats].
I, the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], care
for my flock, the ·people [L house] of Judah.
I will make them like my ·proud [majestic] war horses.
4 From ·Judah [L him] will come the cornerstone,
and the tent peg,
the battle bow,
and every ruler.
5 Together they will be like ·soldiers [mighty men]
·marching to battle [or trampling their enemies] through muddy streets.
The Lord is with them,
so they will fight and ·defeat [L put to shame] the horsemen.
6 “I will strengthen the ·people [L house] of Judah
and save the ·people [L house] of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
because I ·care about [have compassion on] them.
It will be as though
I had never ·left [rejected] them,
because I am the Lord their God,
and I will ·answer [hear] them.
7 The people of Ephraim will be strong like ·soldiers [mighty men];
·they will be glad [L their hearts will rejoice] as when they have drunk wine.
Their children will see it and rejoice;
they will ·be happy [rejoice] in the Lord.
8 I will ·call [signal/whistle for] my people
and gather them together.
I will ·save [redeem] them,
and they grow as numerous as they were before.
9 I have scattered them among the nations,
but in those faraway places, they will remember me.
They and their children will ·live [survive; sprout forth] and return.
10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon
until there isn’t enough room for them all.
11 ·They [or The Lord; L He] will come through the sea of trouble [C as at the Red/or Reed Sea; Ex. 14:22].
The waves of the sea will be calm,
and the ·Nile River [L depths of the Nile/River] will dry up.
I will ·defeat [bring down; humble] Assyria’s pride
and destroy Egypt’s ·power over other countries [L scepter; C ruling authority].
12 I will make my people strong [L in the Lord],
and they will ·live as I say [L walk in my name],” says the Lord.
6 If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; L millstone of a donkey] tied around the neck and be ·drowned [L thrown] in the [L depths of the] sea. 7 ·How terrible for [L Woe to] ·the people of the world [L the world] because of ·the things that cause them to sin [temptations to sin; L stumbling blocks]. ·Such things will happen [L It is necessary for stumbling blocks to come], but ·how terrible for [L woe to] the one ·who causes them to happen [L through whom the stumbling block comes]! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [L to enter life maimed or crippled] than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire]. 9 If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], ·take [tear; gouge] it out and throw it away. It is better for you to ·have only one eye and live forever [L enter life one-eyed] than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ·fire of hell [L Gehenna of fire; 5:22].
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