Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 Turn from evil and do good;(A)
seek peace and pursue it.
16 The eyes of the Lord are directed toward the righteous(B)
and his ears toward their cry.
17 The Lord’s face is against evildoers
to wipe out their memory from the earth.
18 The righteous cry out, the Lord hears
and he rescues them from all their afflictions.
19 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him from them all.
21 He watches over all his bones;
not one of them shall be broken.(C)
22 Evil will slay the wicked;
those who hate the righteous are condemned.
The Altar Beside the Jordan. 10 When the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they built an altar there at the Jordan, an impressively large altar. 11 The other Israelites heard the report:(A) “The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar” in the region of the Jordan facing the land of Canaan,[a] across from the Israelites. 12 When the Israelites heard this, they assembled at Shiloh, as the entire Israelite community to take military action against them.[b]
Accusation of the Western Tribes. 13 The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,(B) 14 and with him ten leaders, one from each tribe of Israel, each one the head of an ancestral house among the clans of Israel. 15 When these came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, they said to them: 16 “Thus says the whole community of the Lord: What act of treachery is this you have committed against the God of Israel? This day you have turned from following the Lord; by building an altar of your own you have rebelled against the Lord this day. 17 Is the iniquity of Peor not enough, by which we made ourselves impure, even to this day, and a plague came upon the community of the Lord?(C) 18 If today you turn away from following the Lord, and rebel against the Lord, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel! 19 If you consider the land you now possess unclean,[c] cross over to the land the Lord possesses, where the tabernacle of the Lord stands, and share that with us. But do not rebel against the Lord, nor involve us in rebellion, by building an altar of your own in addition to the altar of the Lord, our God. 20 When Achan, son of Zerah,(D) acted treacherously by violating the ban, was it not upon the entire community of Israel that wrath fell? Though he was but a single man, he did not perish alone[d] for his guilt!”
11 And do this because you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;(A) 12 the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light;(B) 13 let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,[a] not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.(C) 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.