Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Music Director: A Davidic Song
God’s Knowledge and Presence
139 Lord, you have examined me;
you have known me.
2 You know when I rest[a]
and when I am active.[b]
You understand what I am thinking
when I am distant from you.[c]
3 You scrutinize my life and my rest;[d]
you are familiar with all of my ways.
4 Even before I have formed a word with my tongue,
you, Lord, know it completely!
5 You encircle me from back to front,
placing your hand upon me.
6 Knowledge like this is too amazing for me.
It is beyond my reach,
and I cannot fathom it.
13 It was you who formed my internal organs,[a]
fashioning me within my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you,
because you are fearful and wondrous![b]
Your work is wonderful,
and I am fully aware of it.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
while I was being crafted in a hidden place,
knit together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes looked upon my embryo,
and everything was recorded in your book.
The days scheduled[c] for my formation were inscribed,
even though not one of them had come yet.[d]
17 How deep[e] are your thoughts, God!
How great is their number!
18 Were I to count them,
they would number more than the sand.
When I awake, I will be with you.
16 Then the Lord raised up leaders,[a] who delivered Israel[b] from domination by their marauders. 17 But they didn’t listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the Lord. They didn’t follow their example. 18 As a result, whenever the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord remained present with their leader, delivering Israel[c] from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The Lord[d] was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them. 19 However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.
20 In his burning anger against Israel, the Lord said, “Because the people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep, and because they haven’t obeyed me, 21 I’m also going to stop expelling any of the nations that remained after Joshua died. 22 That way, I’ll use them to demonstrate whether or not Israel will keep the Lord’s lifestyle by walking on that road like their ancestors did.” 23 So the Lord caused those nations to remain and did not expel them quickly. He did not give them into Joshua’s control.
16 Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said:
“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power[a] he led them out of there. 18 After he had put up with[b] them for 40 years in the wilderness, 19 he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then God gave their land to the Israelis[c] as an inheritance 20 for about 450 years.
“After that, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21 When they demanded a king, God gave them Kish’s son Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 22 Then God[d] removed Saul[e] and made David their king, about whom he testified, ‘I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’[f] 23 It was from this man’s descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus. 24 Before Jesus’ appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel. 25 When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I’m not the Messiah.[g] No, but he is coming after me, and I’m not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’
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