Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 103

[A Psalm] of David.

¹ Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

² Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits—

³ Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,

⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

⁵ Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!^(A)

⁶ The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.

⁷ He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.^(B)

⁹ He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.

¹⁰ He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.

¹² As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

²² Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion; bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul!

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

² Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know, understand, and realize her [idolatrous] abominations [that they] are disgusting, detestable, and shamefully vile.

³ And say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem [representing Israel]: Your [spiritual] origin and your birth are thoroughly Canaanitish; your [spiritual] father was an Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite.^(A)

⁴ And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt or swaddled with bands at all.

⁵ No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for your person was abhorrent and loathsome on the day that you were born.

⁶ And when I passed by you and saw you rolling about in your blood, I said to you in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you still in your natal blood, Live!

⁷ I caused you [Israel] to multiply as the bud which grows in the field, and you increased and became tall and you came to full maidenhood and beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ Now I passed by you again and looked upon you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I plighted My troth to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord, and you became Mine.

⁹ Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your [clinging] blood from you and I anointed you with oil.

¹⁰ I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with [fine seal] leather; and I girded you about with fine linen and covered you with silk.

¹¹ I decked you also with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.

¹² And I put a ring on your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown upon your head!

¹³ Thus you were decked with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth; you ate fine flour and honey and oil. And you were exceedingly beautiful and you prospered into royal estate.

¹⁴ And your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty, for it was perfect through My majesty and splendor which I had put upon you, says the Lord God.

3 Then what advantage remains to the Jew? [How is he favored?] Or what is the value or benefit of circumcision?

² Much in every way. To begin with, to the Jews were entrusted the oracles (the brief communications, the intentions, the utterances) of God.^(A)

³ What if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity [to His Word]?

⁴ By no means! Let God be found true though every human being is false and a liar, as it is written, That You may be justified and shown to be upright in what You say, and prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].^(B)

⁵ But if our unrighteousness thus establishes and exhibits the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust and wrong to inflict His wrath upon us [Jews]? I speak in a [purely] human way.

⁶ By no means! Otherwise, how could God judge the world?

⁷ But [you say] if through my falsehood God’s integrity is magnified and advertised and abounds to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?

⁸ And why should we not do evil that good may come?—as some slanderously charge us with teaching. Such [false teaching] is justly condemned by them.