Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶ “But they, our fathers, ^(A)acted presumptuously;
They ^[a](B)became stiff-necked and would not listen to Your commandments.
¹⁷ They refused to listen,
And ^(C)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;
So they became stiff-necked and ^(D)gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery ^[b]in Egypt.
But You are a God ^(E)of lavish forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
¹⁸ Even when they ^(F)made for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And ^[c]committed great ^[d]blasphemies,
^19 (G)But You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
^(H)The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
^20 (I)You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
²¹ Indeed, ^(J)forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
²² You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And apportioned them to them as a ^[e]boundary.
^(K)They took possession of the land of Sihon ^[f]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
²³ You made their sons numerous as ^(L)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.
^24 (M)So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And ^(N)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them according to their desire.
^25 (O)They captured fortified cities and a ^[g](P)rich ^[h]land.
They took possession of ^(Q)houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Trees for food in abundance.
So they ate, were filled, and ^(R)grew fat,
And ^(S)reveled in Your great goodness.

²⁶ “^(T)But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And ^(U)cast Your law behind their backs
And ^(V)killed Your prophets who had ^(W)testified to them
So that they might return to You,
And ^(X)they ^[i]committed great ^[j]blasphemies.
²⁷ Therefore You ^(Y)gave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,
But ^(Z)at the time of their distress they cried to You,
And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassion
You ^(AA)gave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.
²⁸ But ^(AB)as soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;
Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.
Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,
And ^(AC)many times You delivered them according to Your compassion,
²⁹ And ^(AD)testified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.
Yet ^(AE)they acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,
By ^(AF)which if a man does them, he shall live.
And they ^(AG)gave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
^30 (AH)However, You bore with them for many years,
And ^(AI)testified to them by ^(AJ)Your Spirit by the hand of Your prophets,
Yet they would not give ear.
So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
³¹ Nevertheless, in Your abundant compassion You ^(AK)did not make a complete destruction of them or forsake them,
For You are ^(AL)a gracious and compassionate God.