Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The[a] Lord looks on the righteous,
and he listens to their cries.
16 The face of the Lord is set against those who do evil,
and he will remove people’s recollection of them from the earth.
17 The Lord hears those who cry out,
and he delivers them from all their distress.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he delivers those whose spirit has been crushed.
19 A righteous person will have many troubles,
but the Lord will deliver him from them all.
20 God[b] protects all his bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.
22 The Lord redeems the lives of his servants;
and none of those who trust in him will be held guilty.
An Unauthorized Altar is Constructed
10 After they arrived at an area of the Jordan River that is in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh constructed an altar there by the Jordan River, and it was very large. 11 When the Israelis heard about it, they announced, “Look here, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have constructed an altar in Canaan’s frontier district of the Jordan River, on the side apportioned to the Israelis.” 12 When the Israelis heard that announcement,[a] the entire community of the Israelis gathered together at Shiloh in preparation for war.
13 Then the Israelis sent a delegation[b] to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead. They sent[c] Eleazar’s son Phinehas the priest, 14 and ten officials with him (one for each of the tribal families of Israel, each one of them a family leader among the tribes[d] of Israel). 15 They approached the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and told them: 16 “This is what the entire community of the Lord has to say: ‘What is this treacherous act by which you have acted deceitfully against the God of Israel by turning away from following the Lord today, and by building yourselves an altar today, so you can rebel against the Lord? 17 Isn’t the evil that happened at Peor enough for us, from which we have yet to be completely cleansed even to this point,[e] and because of which a plague came upon the community of the Lord? 18 Now then, are you turning away from following the Lord today? If you rebel against the Lord today, by tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel. 19 If the land of your inheritance remains unclean, then cross back over into the land that the Lord possesses, and receive an inheritance among us. Don’t rebel against the Lord and against us by constructing an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God. 20 Didn’t Zerah’s son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God,[f] and as a result God became angry at[g] the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.’”
Live in the Light of the Messiah’s Return
11 This is necessary because you know the times—it’s already time for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we became believers. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. Let’s therefore put aside the actions of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let’s behave decently, as people who live in the light of day.[a] No wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, quarreling, or jealousy! 14 Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[b] and do not obey your flesh and its desires.
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