Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹¹ Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name. ¹² With all my heart I will praise you. I will give glory to your name forever, ¹³ for you love me so much! You are constantly so kind! You have rescued me from deepest hell.

¹⁴ O God, proud and insolent men defy me; violent, godless men are trying to kill me. ¹⁵ But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving-kindness and of truth; ¹⁶ so look down in pity and grant strength to your servant and save me. ¹⁷ Send me a sign of your favor. When those who hate me see it, they will lose face because you help and comfort me.

²¹ Can your idols make such claims as these? Let them come and show what they can do, says God, the King of Israel. ²² Let them try to tell us what occurred in years gone by or what the future holds. ²³ Yes, that’s it! If you are gods, tell what will happen in the days ahead! Or do some mighty miracle that makes us stare, amazed. ²⁴ But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Anyone who chooses you needs to have his head examined!

²⁵ But I have stirred up Cyrus from the north and east; he will come against the nations and call on my name, and I will give him victory over kings and princes. He will tread them as a potter tramples clay.

²⁶ Who but I have told you this would happen? Who else predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No one else! None other said one word! ²⁷ I was the first to tell Jerusalem, “Look! Look! Help is on the way!” ²⁸ Not one of your idols told you this. Not one gave any answer when I asked. ²⁹ See, they are all foolish, worthless things; your idols are all as empty as the wind.

2 So we must listen very carefully to the truths we have heard, or we may drift away from them. ² For since the messages from angels have always proved true and people have always been punished for disobeying them, ³ what makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation announced by the Lord Jesus himself and passed on to us by those who heard him speak?

⁴ God always has shown us that these messages are true by signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving certain special abilities from the Holy Spirit to those who believe; yes, God has assigned such gifts to each of us.

⁵ And the future world we are talking about will not be controlled by angels. ⁶ No, for in the book of Psalms David says to God, “What is mere man that you are so concerned about him? And who is this Son of Man you honor so highly? ⁷ For though you made him lower than the angels for a little while, now you have crowned him with glory and honor. ⁸ And you have put him in complete charge of everything there is. Nothing is left out.”

We have not yet seen all of this take place, ⁹ but we do see Jesus—who for a while was a little lower than the angels—crowned now by God with glory and honor because he suffered death for us. Yes, because of God’s great kindness, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world.