Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
God’s Unfaithful Bride
16 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water;[a] you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets.[b] 5 No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you;[c] you were thrown out into the open field[d] because you were detested on the day you were born.
6 “‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!”[e] 7 I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.
8 “‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing[f] that you had reached the age for love.[g] I spread my cloak[h] over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
9 “‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil. 10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty. 14 Your fame[i] spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor that I bestowed on you, declares the Sovereign Lord.[j]
3 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Actually, there are many advantages.[a] First of all,[b] the Jews[c] were entrusted with the oracles of God.[d] 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, their unfaithfulness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being[e] shown up as a liar,[f] just as it is written: “so that you will be justified[g] in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[h]
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates[i] the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)[j] 6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances[k] his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as some who slander us allege that we say.[l] (Their[m] condemnation is deserved!)
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