Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I give myself to you;
2 my God, I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced;
do not let my enemies laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts you will be disgraced,
but those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
4 Lord, tell me your ways.
Show me how to live.
5 Guide me in your truth,
and teach me, my God, my Savior.
I trust you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your mercy and love
that you have shown since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and wrong things I did when I was young.
But remember to love me always
because you are good, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and right;
he points sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are humble how to do right,
and he teaches them his ways.
5 “Suppose a person is good and does what is fair and right. 6 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife or with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding. 7 He does not mistreat anyone but returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none. 8 He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between one person and another. 9 He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. Whoever does these things is good and will surely live, says the Lord God.
10 “But suppose this person has a wild son who murders people and who does any of these other things. 11 (But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He has sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife. 12 He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals and refuses to return what was promised for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does things which I hate. 13 He lends money for too much interest and profit. Will this son live? No, he will not live! He has done all these hateful things, so he will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own death.
14 “Now suppose this son has a son who has seen all his father’s sins, but after seeing them does not do those things. 15 He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not have sexual relations with his neighbor’s wife. 16 He does not mistreat anyone or keep something promised for a loan or steal. He gives bread to the hungry and clothes to those who have none. 17 He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He does not take too much interest or profit when he lends money. He obeys my laws and lives by my rules. He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father took other people’s money unfairly and robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. So he will die for his own sin.
32 We tell you the Good News about the promise God made to our ancestors. 33 God has made this promise come true for us, his children, by raising Jesus from the dead. We read about this also in Psalm 2:
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.’ Psalm 2:7
34 God raised Jesus from the dead, and he will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said:
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings
that I promised to David.’ Isaiah 55:3
35 But in another place God says:
‘You will not let your Holy One rot.’ Psalm 16:10
36 David did God’s will during his lifetime. Then he died and was buried beside his ancestors, and his body did rot in the grave. 37 But the One God raised from the dead did not rot in the grave. 38-39 Brothers, understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But through Jesus everyone who believes is free from all sins. 40 Be careful! Don’t let what the prophets said happen to you:
41 ‘Listen, you people who doubt!
You can wonder, and then die.
I will do something in your lifetime
that you won’t believe even when you are told about it!’” Habakkuk 1:5
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.