Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A maskil by Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O Lord.
I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.
2 I said, “Your mercy will last forever.
Your faithfulness stands firm in the heavens.”
3 ⌞You said,⌟ “I have made a promise [a] to my chosen one.
I swore this oath to my servant David:
4 ‘I will make your dynasty continue forever.
I built your throne to last throughout every generation.’ ” Selah
5 O Lord, the heavens praise your miracles
and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 Who in the skies can compare with the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord?
7 God is terrifying in the council of the holy ones.
He is greater and more awe-inspiring than those who surround him.
8 O Lord God of Armies, who is like you?
Mighty Lord, even your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule the raging sea.
When its waves rise, you quiet them.
10 You crushed Rahab; [b] it was like a corpse.
With your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours.
The earth is also yours.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing your name joyfully.
13 Your arm is mighty.
Your hand is strong.
Your right hand is lifted high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne.
Mercy and truth stand in front of you.
15 Blessed are the people who know how to praise you.
They walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
16 They find joy in your name all day long.
They are joyful in your righteousness
17 because you are the glory of their strength.
By your favor you give us victory.
18 Our shield belongs to the Lord.
Our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
King Manasseh of Judah(A)
33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what the Lord considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way. 3 He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods—the Baals—and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “My name will be in Jerusalem forever.” 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven. 6 He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, practiced witchcraft, and appointed ⌞royal⌟ mediums and psychics. He did many things that made the Lord furious. 7 Manasseh had a carved idol made. Then he set it up in God’s temple, where God had said to David and his son Solomon, “I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here forever. 8 I will never again remove Israel from the land that I set aside for their ancestors if they will obey all the commands, all the teachings, the ordinances, and the regulations ⌞I gave⌟ through Moses.” 9 Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil things than the nations that the Lord had destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land.
10 When the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, they wouldn’t even pay attention. 11 So the Lord made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.
12 When he experienced this distress, he begged the Lord his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors. 13 He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord accepted his prayer and listened to his request. The Lord brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
14 After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon Spring in the valley to the entrance of Fish Gate. He made the wall go around the Ophel, and he built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah.
15 Manasseh got rid of the foreign gods and the idol in the Lord’s temple. He got rid of the altars he had built in the temple on the Lord’s mountain and in Jerusalem. 16 He built the Lord’s altar and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. And he told Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 The people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship, but they sacrificed only to the Lord their God.
Faith Directed People’s Lives
11 Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. 2 God accepted our ancestors because of their faith.
3 Faith convinces us that God created the world through his word. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen.
4 Faith led Abel to offer God a better sacrifice than Cain’s sacrifice. Through his faith Abel received God’s approval, since God accepted his sacrifices. Through his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 Faith enabled Enoch to be taken instead of dying. No one could find him, because God had taken him. Scripture states that before Enoch was taken, God was pleased with him. 6 No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a ship to save his family. Through faith Noah condemned the world and received God’s approval that comes through faith.
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