Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁵ Imagine a righteous man who always does what is right: ⁶ First, he worships Me exclusively; he doesn’t feast at the heathen shrines atop mountains, nor does he worship idols as others do in Israel—he won’t even look at them! Second, he does not sleep with his neighbor’s wife or have sex with a woman when she is menstruating. ⁷ Third, he does not persecute or abuse anyone; he gives back a debtor’s collateral and does not seize poorer men’s property. Fourth, he tends to the poor; he clothes the naked and gives his bread to the hungry ⁸ and doesn’t charge those poor people who borrow from him interest or keep their profits. Fifth, he is law-abiding; he does not participate in wrong deeds and is fair toward all others. ⁹ Sixth, he is obedient to Me, living by My statutes and faithfully keeping My laws. This man who is righteous—he will surely live.

^10-11 Now suppose this righteous man has a violent son. The son is a killer and does wicked things that the righteous father has never done: He worships other gods, feasting at the heathen shrines atop mountains. He defiles his neighbor’s wife. ¹² He abuses the poor and persecutes the needy. He seizes property and keeps a debtor’s collateral. He looks up to breathless idols, worshiping them. He breaks the law and commits shocking deeds. ¹³ He charges those who borrow from him interest and makes excessive profits. Do you think the wicked son will live? Of course not! Because he has done all of these shocking things, he will be put to death, and it will be his own fault.

¹⁴ Now, suppose the wicked son has a son of his own, and this son watches his father’s vile lifestyle and chooses not to do as his father has done: ¹⁵ He worships Me exclusively; he doesn’t feast at the heathen shrines atop mountains, nor does he worship idols as others do in Israel—he won’t even look at them! He does not defile his neighbor’s wife. ¹⁶ He does not persecute or abuse anyone; he gives back a debtor’s collateral and does not seize poorer men’s properties. He tends to the poor; he clothes the naked, gives his bread to the hungry, ¹⁷ does not participate in wronging the poor, nor does he charge those who borrow from him interest or make excessive profit. He is obedient to Me, faithfully keeping My laws and living by My statutes. This man who is righteous will not die for his father’s sins. He will surely live. ¹⁸ But his father will surely die for his own wicked deeds—taking advantage of the poor, seizing property from poorer Israelites, and refusing to do good for his people.

³² We are here to bring you the good news of God’s promise to our ancestors, ³³ which He has now fulfilled for our children by raising Jesus. Consider the promises fulfilled in Jesus. The psalmist says, “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.”^[a]

³⁴ Elsewhere God promises that Jesus will rise and never return to death and corruption again: “I will make You the holy and faithful promises I made to David.”^{[b] 35} Similarly, another psalm says, “You will not abandon Me to experience death and the grave or leave Me to rot alone.”^{[c] 36} We all know David died and was reduced to dust after he served God’s purpose in his generation; ³⁷ these words obviously apply not to David but to the One God raised from death before suffering decay. ³⁸ So you must realize, my brothers, that through this resurrected man forgiveness of sins is assured to you. ³⁹ Through Jesus, everyone who believes is set free from all sins—sins which the law of Moses could not release you from. ⁴⁰ In light of all this, be careful that you do not fulfill these words of the prophet Habakkuk: