Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Protection
43 God, defend me.
Argue my case against those who don’t follow you.
Save me from liars and those who do evil.
2 God, you are my strength.
Why have you rejected me?
Why am I sad
and troubled by my enemies?
3 Send me your light and truth
to guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to where you live.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God who is my joy and happiness.
I will praise you with a harp,
God, my God.
5 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God
and keep praising him,
my Savior and my God.
27 A man of God came to Eli and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I clearly showed myself to the family of your ancestor Aaron when they were slaves to the king of Egypt. 28 I chose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priests. I wanted them to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the holy vest. I also let the family of your ancestor have part of all the offerings sacrificed by the Israelites. 29 So why don’t you respect the sacrifices and gifts? You honor your sons more than me. You grow fat on the best parts of the meat the Israelites bring to me.’
30 “So the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I promised that your family and your ancestor’s family would serve me always.’ But now the Lord says: ‘This must stop! I will honor those who honor me, but I will dishonor those who ignore me. 31 The time is coming when I will destroy the descendants of both you and your ancestors. No man will grow old in your family. 32 You will see trouble in my house. No matter what good things happen to Israel, there will never be an old man in your family. 33 I will not totally cut off your family from my altar. But your eyes will cry and your heart be sad, because all your descendants will die.
34 “‘I will give you a sign. Both your sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day. 35 I will choose a loyal priest for myself who will listen to me and do what I want. I will make his family continue, and he will always serve before my appointed king. 36 Then everyone left in your family will come and bow down before him. They will beg for a little money or a little food and say, “Please give me a job as priest so I can have food to eat.”’”
The Jews and the Law
17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God. 18 You know what he wants you to do and what is important, because you have learned the law. 19 You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness. 20 You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. 21 You teach others, so why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but you steal. 22 You say that others must not take part in adultery, but you are guilty of that sin. You hate idols, but you steal from temples. 23 You brag about having God’s law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law, 24 just as the Scriptures say: “Those who are not Jews speak against God’s name because of you.”[a]
25 If you follow the law, your circumcision has meaning. But if you break the law, it is as if you were never circumcised. 26 People who are not Jews are not circumcised, but if they do what the law says, it is as if they were circumcised. 27 You Jews have the written law and circumcision, but you break the law. So those who are not circumcised in their bodies, but still obey the law, will show that you are guilty. 28 They can do this because a person is not a true Jew if he is only a Jew in his physical body; true circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. 29 A person is a Jew only if he is a Jew inside; true circumcision is done in the heart by the Spirit, not by the written law. Such a person gets praise from God rather than from people.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.