Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Davidic

Praise God, who Forgives

A Prophecy Confronting Jerusalem

16 This message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of Man, make known to Israel her detestable practices. ³ You are to declare, ‘This is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem: “Your birth place^[a] was the territory that belonged to the Canaanites. Your father was an Ammonite and your mother was a Hittite. ⁴ Now as to your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord wasn’t cut. You weren’t washed with water to clean you, and nobody rubbed you with salt. And it’s certain that you weren’t wrapped in strips of cloth. ⁵ Nobody pitied you to do any of these things for you, and nobody showed you any compassion. You were tossed outside on the ground, because you^[b] were detested from the day you were born.

⁶ “‘“When I passed by you, I saw you kicking around, covered in your own blood. That’s when I told you, ‘Live!’—while you were wallowing in your blood. I commanded you to live, even as you lay there in your own blood. ⁷ I made you increase like sprouting grain^[c] in the field. As a result, you multiplied greatly. Eventually, you reached the age when young women start wearing jewelry. Your breasts were formed, your hair had grown, but you were still bare and naked.”’”

God’s Betrothal to Jerusalem

⁸ “When I passed by you again, I looked at you, and noticed that it was your proper time for love. I spread my cloak^[d] over you to cover your nakedness. I made a solemn promise to you and entered into a covenant with you,” declares the Lord God. “You belong to me. ⁹ I bathed you with water, rinsed your own blood from you, and anointed you with oil. ¹⁰ Then I covered you with embroidered clothing, clothed your feet with leather sandals, wrapped^[e] you with fine linen, and dressed you in silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewels, placing bracelets on your hand and necklaces on your neck. ¹² I put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a crown encrusted with jewels on your head. ¹³ You were adorned with gold, silver, clothing of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate food made from the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, attaining royal status. ¹⁴ Your fame^[f] spread throughout the nations because of your beauty. You were perfectly beautiful due to my splendor with which I endowed you,” declares the Lord God.

Everyone is a Sinner

3 What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? ² There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews^[a] have been entrusted with the utterances of God. ³ What if some of the Jews^[b] were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God’s faithfulness, can it? ⁴ Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written,

⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God’s righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) ⁶ Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? ⁷ For^[e] if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say—as some people slander us by claiming that we say—“Let’s do evil that good may result”? They deserve to be condemned!