Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
14 “So I am going to ·attract [allure; woo] her;
I will lead her into the ·desert [wilderness; C as in the Exodus, when God rescued Israel from slavery and cared for her; Ex. 12–17]
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and I will make the Valley of ·Trouble [L Achor; C see Josh. 7:1–26] a door of hope.
There she will ·respond [or sing] as ·when she was young [L in the days of her youth],
as when she came out of Egypt.”
16 The Lord says, “In the future she[a] will call me ‘my husband’;
no longer will she[b] call me ‘my baal [C “baal” can mean “husband,” “master,” or “Baal” (the Canaanite god); in this wordplay, Israel has replaced one husband (the Lord) with another (Baal)].’
17 I will ·never let her say [remove from her lips] the names of Baal again;
people won’t ·use [utter; invoke; or remember] their names anymore.
18 At that time I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] for them
with the ·wild animals [L beasts of the field], the ·birds [L birds of the sky/heavens], and the ·crawling things [T creeping things of the ground].
I will ·smash [shatter; abolish] from the land
the bow and the sword and ·the weapons of war [or war; battle],
so my people will ·live [L lie down] in safety.
19 And I will ·make you my promised bride [L betroth you to me] forever.
I will ·be good and fair [L betroth you in righteousness and justice];
I will show you my ·love [loyalty; unfailing love; lovingkindness] and mercy.
20 I will ·be true to you as my promised bride [L betroth you in faithfulness],
and you will ·know [or acknowledge me as] the Lord.
Praise to the Lord of Love
Of David.
103 ·All that I am [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord;
·everything in me [L all my inward parts], ·praise [bless] his holy name.
2 ·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord
and do not forget all his ·kindnesses [gifts; benefits].
3 He forgives all ·my [or your] ·sins [iniquity]
and heals all ·my [or your] ·diseases [ills].
4 He ·saves [redeems] ·my [or your] life from the ·grave [L pit]
and ·loads [or crowns] ·me [or you] with ·love [loyalty] and ·mercy [compassion].
5 He satisfies ·me [or you] with good things [L as long as you live; or according to your desires]
and ·makes me young again [L renews your youth], like the eagle [Is. 40:31].
6 The Lord does what is ·right [righteous] and ·fair [just]
for all who are ·wronged by others [oppressed; exploited].
7 He ·showed [revealed] his ways to Moses [Ex. 34:5–7]
and his deeds to the ·people [sons] of Israel.
8 The Lord shows ·mercy [compassion] and ·is kind [grace].
He ·does not become angry quickly [is slow to anger], and he has great ·love [loyalty; 86:15; 145:8–9; Ex. 34:6–7; Neh. 9:17. 31; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2].
9 He will not always ·accuse [charge; contend with] us,
and he will not ·be angry forever [L keep watch forever].
10 He ·has not punished us as our sins should be punished [L does not act toward us according to our sins];
he has not repaid us ·for the evil we have done [L according to our iniquity].
11 As high as the ·sky [heaven] is above the earth,
so great is his ·love [loyalty] for those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7].
12 He has taken our ·sins [transgressions] away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has ·mercy [compassion] on those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
as a father has ·mercy [compassion] on his children.
22 Everything the Lord has made
should ·praise [bless] him in all the places he rules.
·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
Servants of the New Agreement
3 Are we starting to ·brag about [praise; commend] ourselves again? Do we need letters of ·introduction [recommendation] to you or from you, like some other people [C Paul’s opponents evidently carried letters of reference (perhaps from Jerusalem)]? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone [C the changed lives of the Corinthians prove Paul’s credibility as an apostle of Jesus Christ]. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ ·sent through us [delivered by us; or produced by us; the result of our ministry]. This letter is not written with ink but ·with [by] the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets [C the law of Moses was written on stone tablets; Ex. 24:12; 32:16] but on human hearts [L hearts of flesh; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26].
4 We can say this, because through Christ we ·feel certain before God [have confidence in God’s presence; or can trust in God]. 5 We are not saying that we ·can do this work ourselves [L are able/competent/adequate to consider anything as from ourselves]. ·It is God who makes us able to do all that we do [L But our ability/competence/adequacy is from God]. 6 He made us ·able [adequate; competent] to be servants of a new ·agreement from himself to his people [covenant; Jer. 31:31–34; Luke 22:20]. This new ·agreement [covenant] is not ·a written law [L of the letter], but it is of the Spirit. The ·written law [L letter] brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
Jesus Calls Levi to Follow Him(A)
13 Jesus went to the lake again. The whole crowd ·followed him [came to him] there, and he taught them. 14 While he was walking along, he saw a man named Levi son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax collector’s booth [C probably a tariff booth for taxing goods in transit]. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.
15 Later, as Jesus was ·having dinner [L reclining; C around a low table, the posture for a formal banquet or dinner party] at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating there with Jesus and his followers. Many people like this followed Jesus. 16 When the ·teachers of the law [scribes] who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they asked his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [C Tax collectors were despised because they worked for the Roman rulers and were notorious for corruption and extortion.]
17 Jesus heard this and said to them, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to ·invite [call] ·good people [the righteous; C meaning the “self-righteous” who feel no need to repent] but to ·invite [call] sinners [C those who recognize their need to repent].”
Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(B)
18 Now the ·followers [disciples] of John [C the Baptist; 1:4–8] and the Pharisees often fasted [C giving up eating for spiritual purposes]. ·Some people [L They] came to Jesus and said, “Why do John’s ·followers [disciples] and the ·followers [disciples] of the Pharisees often fast, but your ·followers [disciples] don’t?”
19 Jesus answered, “The ·friends of the bridegroom [or wedding guests; L children of the wedding hall] do not fast while the bridegroom is still with them [C Jesus is referring to himself; John 3:29; Rev. 19:7]. As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the ·time [L days] will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and ·then [in that day] they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old ·coat [garment]. Otherwise, the patch will shrink and pull away—the new patch will pull away from the old ·coat [garment]. Then the ·hole [tear] will be worse. 22 Also, no one ever pours new wine into old ·leather bags [wineskins]. Otherwise, the new wine will break the ·bags [skins; C as the wine ferments and expands], and the wine will be ·ruined [lost] along with the ·bags [skins]. But new wine should be put into new ·leather bags [wineskins].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.