Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Joy of Being Forgiven

32 How happy he is whose wrong-doing is forgiven, and whose sin is covered! ² How happy is the man whose sin the Lord does not hold against him, and in whose spirit there is nothing false.

³ When I kept quiet about my sin, my bones wasted away from crying all day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as in the hot summer. ⁵ I told my sin to You. I did not hide my wrong-doing. I said, “I will tell my sins to the Lord.” And You forgave the guilt of my sin. ⁶ So let all who are God-like pray to You while You may be found, because in the floods of much water, they will not touch him. ⁷ You are my hiding place. You keep me safe from trouble. All around me are your songs of being made free.

⁸ The Lord hates the gifts of the sinful, but the prayer of the faithful is His joy.

⁹ The Lord hates the way of the sinful, but He loves him who follows what is right and good.

¹⁰ He who turns from the right way will be punished. He who hates strong words spoken to him will die.

¹¹ The world of the dead lies open before the Lord. How much more the hearts of men!

²⁴ The path of life leads up for the wise, so he may keep away from hell below.

²⁵ The Lord will tear down the house of the proud, but He will make a place for the woman whose husband has died.

²⁶ The Lord hates the plans of the sinful, but the words of the pure are pleasing to Him.

²⁷ He who gets things by doing wrong brings trouble to his family, but he who will not be paid in secret for wrong-doing will live.

²⁸ The mind of the one who is right with God thinks about how to answer, but the mouth of the sinful pours out sinful things.

²⁹ The Lord is far from the sinful, but He hears the prayer of those who are right with Him.

³⁰ The light of the eyes makes the heart glad. Good news puts fat on the bones.

³¹ He whose ear listens to careful words spoken will live among the wise.

³² He who does not listen to strong teaching hates himself, but he who listens when strong words are spoken gets understanding.

³³ The fear of the Lord is the teaching for wisdom, and having no pride comes before honor.

1 This letter is from Paul. I have been chosen by God to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Timothy is here with me and is writing to you also. We are writing to God’s church in the city of Corinth and to all of God’s people in the country of Greece. ² May you have loving-favor and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father Who shows us loving-kindness and our God Who gives us comfort. ⁴ He gives us comfort in all our troubles. Then we can comfort other people who have the same troubles. We give the same kind of comfort God gives us. ⁵ As we have suffered much for Christ and have shared in His pain, we also share His great comfort.

⁶ But if we are in trouble, it is for your good. And it is so you will be saved from the punishment of sin. If God comforts us, it is for your good also. You too will be given strength not to give up when you have the same kind of trouble we have. ⁷ Our hope for you is the same all the time. We know you are sharing our troubles. And so you will share the comfort we receive.

⁸ We want you to know, Christian brothers, of the trouble we had in the countries of Asia. The load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live. ⁹ We thought we would die. This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead. ¹⁰ Yes, God kept us from what looked like sure death and He is keeping us. As we trust Him, He will keep us in the future. ¹¹ You also help us by praying for us. Many people thank God for His favor to us. This is an answer to the prayers of many people.