Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
97 Oh, how I love them. I think about them all day long. 98 They make me wiser than my enemies because they are my constant guide. 99 Yes, wiser than my teachers, for I am ever thinking of your rules. 100 They make me even wiser than the aged.
101 I have refused to walk the paths of evil, for I will remain obedient to your Word. 102-103 No, I haven’t turned away from what you taught me; your words are sweeter than honey. 104 And since only your rules can give me wisdom and understanding, no wonder I hate every false teaching.
16 but our ancestors were a proud and stubborn lot, and they refused to listen to your commandments.
17 “They refused to obey and didn’t pay any attention to the miracles you did for them; instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to take them back into slavery in Egypt! But you are a God of forgiveness, always ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and full of love and mercy; you didn’t abandon them, 18 even though they made a calf idol and proclaimed, ‘This is our God! He brought us out of Egypt!’ They sinned in so many ways, 19 but in your great mercy you didn’t abandon them to die in the wilderness! The pillar of cloud led them forward day by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. 20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them bread from heaven or water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing in all that time. Their clothes didn’t wear out, and their feet didn’t swell!
22 “Then you helped them conquer great kingdoms and many nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land; they completely took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan. 23 You caused a population explosion among the Israelis and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors. 24 You subdued whole nations before them—even the kings and the people of the Canaanites were powerless! 25 Your people captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took over houses full of good things, with cisterns and vineyards and olive yards and many, many fruit trees; so they ate and were full and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.
26 “But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They threw away your law, killed the prophets who told them to return to you, and they did many other terrible things. 27 So you gave them to their enemies. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven, and in great mercy you sent them saviors who delivered them from their enemies. 28 But when all was going well, your people turned to sin again, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people returned to you and cried to you for help, once more you listened from heaven, and in your wonderful mercy delivered them! 29 You punished them in order to turn them toward your laws; but even though they should have obeyed them,[a] they were proud and wouldn’t listen, and continued to sin. 30 You were patient with them for many years. You sent your prophets to warn them about their sins, but still they wouldn’t listen. So once again you allowed the heathen nations to conquer them. 31 But in your great mercy you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
21 Tychicus, who is a much-loved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work, will tell you all about how I am getting along. 22 I am sending him to you for just this purpose: to let you know how we are and be encouraged by his report.
23 May God give peace to you, my Christian brothers, and love, with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 May God’s grace and blessing be upon all who sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely, Paul
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.