Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
6 ·God, your throne will last [or Your throne is a throne of God] forever and ever.
·You will rule your kingdom with fairness [L A scepter of virtue will be the scepter of your kingdom].
7 You love ·right [righteousness] and hate ·evil [wickedness],
so God has ·chosen [anointed] you from among your ·friends [companions];
·he has set you apart with much joy [L …with the oil of joy; C kings were anointed with oil at their coronation; 1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13; Heb. 1:8–9].
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
·music [stringed instruments] comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your ·bride [queen; consort] stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir [C perhaps a region in southern Arabia].
10 Listen to me, daughter; look and ·pay attention [L incline your ear].
Forget your people and your father’s ·family [L house; Gen. 2:24].
11 The king ·loves [L desires; longs for] your beauty.
Because he is your ·master [lord], you should ·obey [L bow yourself before] him.
12 ·People from the city [L The daughter] of Tyre have brought ·a gift [tribute].
Wealthy people ·will want to meet you [seek your favor].
13 The ·princess [L daughter of the king] is ·very beautiful [L all glorious within].
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her ·beautiful [embroidered] clothes she is brought to the king.
·Her bridesmaids [Virgins] follow behind her,
and ·they are also brought to him [L her friends follow].
15 They come with happiness and joy;
they enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to replace your fathers [C addressed to the king].
You will make them ·rulers [princes] through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on,
so people will praise you forever and ever.
Israel Returns to God
14 Israel, return to the Lord your God,
because your sins have made you ·fall [stumble].
2 ·Come back [Return] to the Lord
and ·say these words to him [L take words with you]:
“Take away all our sin
and ·kindly receive us [accept our prayers],
·and we will keep the promises we made to you [L so that we may offer the sacrifices of our lips; or so that we may offer our lips as sacrificial bulls].
3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor will we ·trust in our [mount and ride] horses.
We will not say again, ‘Our gods,’
to the things our hands have made.
You show ·mercy [compassion] to ·orphans [the fatherless].”
4 The Lord says,
“I will forgive ·them for leaving me [their apostasy/waywardness]
and will love them freely,
because ·I am not angry with them anymore [L my anger has turned away from them].
5 I will be like the dew to Israel,
and they will blossom like a lily.
Like the cedar trees in Lebanon,
·their roots will be firm [they will take root].
6 ·They will be like spreading branches [L His shoots will spread out],
like the beautiful olive trees
and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.
7 ·The people of Israel will again live under my protection [or People will again live under Israel’s protection/shade].
They will ·grow [flourish] like the grain,
they will bloom like a vine,
and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.
8 ·Israel [L Ephraim; 4:17], have nothing to do with idols.
I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and ·watches over [cares for] you.
I am like a ·green [flourishing; evergreen] ·pine tree [or juniper; or cypress];
your ·blessings [L fruit] come from me.”
9 ·A wise person will know these things [L Who is wise? Let him understand these things],
·and an understanding person will take them to heart [L Who is discerning? Let him understand them].
The Lord’s ways are right.
·Good people [The righteous] ·live by following [L walk in] them,
but ·those who turn against God [the rebellious/transgressors] ·die because of them [L stumble in them].
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I wish you would be patient with me even ·when I am a little foolish [in a little foolishness], but you are already doing that. 2 [L For] I am jealous over you with a ·jealousy that comes from God [or godly jealousy]. I promised to give you to Christ, as your only husband. I want to give you as his pure ·bride [L virgin]. 3 But I am afraid that your minds will be ·led away [or corrupted] from your ·true [sincere] and pure following of Christ just as Eve was ·tricked [deceived] by the ·snake [serpent] with his ·evil ways [cunning; craftiness; Gen. 3:1–6]. 4 You ·are very patient with [willingly put up with; gladly tolerate] anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus from the one we preached. You are very willing to accept a spirit that is different from the Spirit you received, or a gospel that is different from the one you ·accepted [or received from us].
5 I do not think that those “·great [super-] apostles” are any better than I am. 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have shown this to you clearly in every way.
7 Was it ·wrong [a sin] for me to ·humble [lower] myself and ·honor [exalt; lift up] you by preaching God’s ·Good News [Gospel] to you without pay? 8 I accepted pay from other churches, ·taking their money [L “robbing” them] so I could serve you. 9 If I needed something when I was with you, I did not ·trouble [burden] any of you. The brothers who came from Macedonia gave me all that I needed. I did not allow myself to ·depend on [become a burden to] you in any way, and I will ·never depend on you [L keep doing this]. 10 No one in Achaia [C southern Greece; 1:1] will stop me from ·bragging [boasting] about that. ·I say this with the truth of Christ in me [or By Christ’s truth in me! C a strong vow or oath]. 11 ·And why do I not depend on you [L Why]? Do you think it is because I do not love you? ·God knows that I love you [L God knows!].
12 And I will continue doing what I am doing now, because I want to stop those people from having a reason to ·brag [boast]. They ·would like [are looking for an opportunity] to say that the work they ·brag [boast] about is ·the same as [equal to] ours. 13 Such men are ·not true apostles [false apostles; pseudo-apostles] but are ·workers who lie [deceitful workers]. ·They change themselves to look like […disguising themselves as; …masquerading as] apostles of Christ. 14 ·This does not surprise us [And no wonder, since…]. Even Satan ·changes himself to look like [disguises himself as; masquerades as] an ·angel [messenger] of light [C trying to fool people into thinking he is from God, who is pure light]. 15 So it does not surprise us if Satan’s servants also ·make themselves look like [masquerade as] servants ·who work for what is right [of righteousness]. But ·in the end they will be punished for what they do [L their end will match their deeds].
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