Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 89[a]
A Lament over God’s Promise to David
1 A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
A
I
2 I will sing of your mercy forever, Lord(A)
proclaim your faithfulness through all ages.
3 [b]For I said, “My mercy is established forever;
my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens.
4 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
5 I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages.”(B)
Selah
II
6 The heavens praise your marvels, Lord,
your loyalty in the assembly of the holy ones.(C)
7 Who in the skies ranks with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the sons of the gods?[c](D)
8 A God dreaded in the council of the holy ones,
greater and more awesome than all those around him!
9 Lord, God of hosts, who is like you?
Mighty Lord, your faithfulness surrounds you.
10 You rule the raging sea;(E)
you still its swelling waves.
11 You crush Rahab[d] with a mortal blow;
with your strong arm you scatter your foes.
12 Yours are the heavens, yours the earth;
you founded the world and everything in it.(F)
13 [e]Zaphon and Amanus you created;
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
14 You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is ever exalted.
15 Justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne;
mercy and faithfulness march before you.(G)
16 Blessed the people who know the war cry,
who walk in the radiance of your face, Lord.
17 In your name they sing joyfully all the day;
they rejoice in your righteousness.(H)
18 You are their majestic strength;
by your favor our horn[f] is exalted.(I)
Chapter 33
Manasseh’s Impiety. 1 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had torn down. He set up altars to the Baals, and also made asherahs. He bowed down to the whole host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be forever; 5 and he built altars to the whole host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 It was he, too, who immolated his children by fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced soothsaying and divination, and reintroduced the consulting of ghosts and spirits.
He did much evil in the Lord’s sight and provoked him to anger. 7 An idol he had made he placed in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon: In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I shall set my name forever. 8 I will no longer make Israel step out of the land I assigned to your ancestors, provided that they are careful to observe all I commanded them, the entire law, the statutes, and the ordinances given by Moses.
9 Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into doing even greater evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed at the coming of the Israelites. 10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
Manasseh’s Conversion. 11 (B)Therefore the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the Assyrian king; they captured Manasseh with hooks, shackled him with chains, and transported him to Babylon.[a] 12 In his distress, he began to appease the Lord, his God. He humbled himself abjectly before the God of his ancestors, 13 and prayed to him.[b] The Lord let himself be won over: he heard his prayer and restored him to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is indeed God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the City of David to the west of Gihon in the valley, extending to the Fish Gate and encircling Ophel; he built it very high. He stationed army officers in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s house and all the altars he had built on the mount of the Lord’s house and in Jerusalem, and cast them outside the city.(C) 16 He restored the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed on it communion offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 Though the people continued to sacrifice on the high places, they now did so to the Lord, their God.
V. Examples, Discipline, Disobedience
Chapter 11[a]
Faith of the Ancients. 1 Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence[b] of things not seen.(A) 2 Because of it the ancients were well attested. 3 (B)By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God,[c] so that what is visible came into being through the invisible. 4 [d]By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks.(C) 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and “he was found no more because God had taken him.” Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God.(D) 6 [e]But without faith it is impossible to please him,(E) for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith.(F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.