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.
21 The descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the officials of the tribes[a] of Israel, 22 “The God of gods, the Lord, the God of gods, the Lord is the one who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this[b] was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the Lord, may he not deliver us today! 23 If we have built an altar for ourselves intended to turn us away from following the Lord, or to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself demand an accounting from us![c] 24 But we did this because we were concerned for a reason, since we thought, ‘Sometime in the future your descendants may say to our descendants, “What do you have in common[d] with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has established the Jordan River to be a territorial border between us and you. Descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad have no allotment from the Lord.” So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.’
26 “That’s why we said, ‘Let’s build an altar for ourselves, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, 27 but instead it will serve as a reminder[e] between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to serve the Lord with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. That way your descendants will not say to our descendants in the future, “You have no allotment from the Lord.”’
28 “That’s also why we said, ‘It may be if they say these things[f] to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, “Look at this replica of the altar of the Lord that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder[g] between us and you. 29 May we never rebel against the Lord today by building an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifice to replace[h] the altar of the Lord our God which stands before his Tent.”’”
30 When Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the community, and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him heard what the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the descendants of Manasseh said, they were pleased. 31 So Eleazar’s son Phinehas the priest replied to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the descendants of Manasseh, “Today we’ve demonstrated[i] that the Lord is among us, because you have not acted treacherously against the Lord. Now you have delivered the Israelis from the anger[j] of the Lord.”
32 So Eleazar’s son Phinehas the priest and the leaders returned from the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan and to the people of Israel, bringing back word to them. 33 What they said pleased the people of Israel, so they[k] blessed God and said no more about going up to attack them in war and to destroy the land where the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad were living. 34 The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad named the altar “Witness,” because they claimed,[l] “It stands as a witness between us that the Lord is God.”
5 Then he told them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don’t have anything to serve him.’ 7 Suppose he answers from inside, ‘Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom.[a] I can’t get up and give you anything!’ 8 I tell you, even though that man[b] doesn’t want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
Ask, Search, Knock(A)
9 So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door[c] will be opened for you, 10 because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door[d] opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish,[e] would give him a snake instead of the fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? 13 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!”
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