Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
What the Lord Demands
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may ·enter [dwell/abide/sojourn in] your Holy Tent [C the Tabernacle]?
Who may live on your holy mountain [C Mount Zion]?
2 Only those who ·are innocent [walk innocently]
and who do ·what is right [righteousness; 1:1; Job 1:1].
Such people speak the truth from their hearts
3 and do not ·tell lies about others [slander with their tongue].
They do no ·wrong [evil] to their neighbors
and do not ·gossip [L raise a reproachful matter with their associates].
4 ·They do not respect hateful people [L The wicked are despised in their eyes]
but honor those who ·honor [L fear] the Lord.
They keep their promises to their neighbors,
even when it hurts.
5 They do not charge interest on money they lend [Ex. 22:25–27; Lev. 25:35–36; Deut. 23:19]
and do not take ·money [a bribe] to hurt innocent people [Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19].
Whoever does all these things will never be ·destroyed [L moved].
The People Make a Gold Calf
32 The people saw that ·a long time had passed and Moses had not [L Moses delayed to] come down from the mountain. So they ·gathered [assembled] ·around [or against] Aaron and said, “[L This man] Moses ·led [brought] us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us ·gods [or a god; or an image of God] who will ·lead [L go before] us.”
2 Aaron said to ·the people [L them], “·Take [Pull] off the gold earrings that your wives, sons, and daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people ·took [pulled off] their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took ·the gold [L it] from ·the people [L their hands] and formed it ·with a tool [or in a mold] and made a ·statue [image] of a calf. Then the people said, “Israel, ·these are your gods [or this is your God; C either an idol to a false god or an inappropriate image for a false worship of the true God] who brought you out of the land of Egypt [1 Kin. 12:28]!”
5 When Aaron saw all this, he built an altar before the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a ·special feast to honor [festival for] the Lord.” 6 The people got up early the next morning and offered whole burnt offerings [Lev. 1] and ·fellowship [or peace] offerings [Lev. 3]. They sat down to eat and drink, and then they ·got up and sinned sexually [got up and amused themselves; T rose up to play; C a euphemism].
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain, because your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have ·ruined themselves [acted in a debauched/perverse manner]. 8 They have quickly turned away from the ·things [path; way] I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf ·covered with gold [L image], and they have worshiped it and offered sacrifices to it. They have said, ‘Israel, ·these are your gods [or this is the God; 32:4] who brought you out of Egypt.’”
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and I know that they are ·very stubborn [L a stiff-necked people]. 10 So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to ·destroy [L consume] them. Then I will make ·you and your descendants [L you] a great nation [C echoing the promise to Abraham; Gen. 12:1–3].”
11 But Moses ·begged [tried to appease] the Lord his God and said, “Lord, ·don’t let your anger destroy [L why does your anger burn against…?] your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and ·strength [L a mighty hand]. 12 ·Don’t let [L Why should…?] the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt for an evil purpose. He planned to kill them in the mountains and ·destroy [L wipe] them from the earth.’ So ·stop being angry [change your mind; relent], and don’t ·destroy [L bring harm on] your people. 13 Remember ·the men who served you [L your servants]—Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You promised with an oath to them and said, ‘I will make your ·descendants [seed] as many as the stars in the sky [Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4]. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them, and ·it will be theirs [L they will inherit it] forever [Gen. 12:1–3].’” 14 So the Lord ·changed his mind [relented] and did not ·destroy [L bring harm on] the people as he had said he might.
1 From James [C one of Jesus’ brothers and a leader in the early church; Gal. 1:19; Acts 12:17; 15:13–21; 21:17], a ·servant [slave; bond-servant] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To ·all of God’s people [L the twelve tribes; C an allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel; referring either to Jewish Christians or all believers as the new covenant people of God] ·who are scattered everywhere in the world [L in the Diaspora/Dispersion; C a reference to the scattering of the Jews during the Babylonian captivity, now applied to the church]: Greetings.
Faith and Wisdom
2 My brothers and sisters [C fellow believers], when you have many kinds of ·troubles [trials; testing], ·you should be full of joy [L consider it all/pure joy], 3 because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you ·patience [perserverance; endurance]. 4 [L And] Let your ·patience [perserverance; endurance] ·show itself perfectly in what you do [have its full effect; finish its work]. Then you will be ·perfect and complete [mature and whole; or completely mature] and will ·have everything you need [L lack nothing]. 5 But if any of you ·needs [lacks] wisdom, you should ask God for it [Prov. 2:6]. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom ·without criticizing you [without finding fault; ungrudgingly; Matt. 7:7]. 6 But when you ask God, you must ·believe [ask with faith] and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, ·blown up and down [driven and tossed] by the wind.
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