Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶⁹ [Taw.] My loud cry cometh near before Thee, O Jehovah; According to Thy word cause me to understand.

¹⁷⁰ My supplication cometh in before Thee, According to Thy saying deliver Thou me.

¹⁷¹ My lips do utter praise, For Thou dost teach me Thy statutes.

¹⁷² My tongue doth sing of Thy saying, For all Thy commands [are] righteous.

¹⁷³ Thy hand is for a help to me, For Thy commands I have chosen.

¹⁷⁴ I have longed for Thy salvation, O Jehovah, And Thy law [is] my delight.

¹⁷⁵ My soul liveth, and it doth praise Thee, And Thy judgments do help me.

¹⁷⁶ I wandered as a lost sheep, seek Thy servant, For Thy precepts I have not forgotten!

13 And lo, a man of God hath come from Judah, by the word of Jehovah, unto Beth-El, and Jeroboam is standing by the altar -- to make perfume;

² and he calleth against the altar, by the word of Jehovah, and saith, `Altar! altar! thus said Jehovah, Lo, a son is born to the house of David -- Josiah his name -- and he hath sacrificed on thee the priests of the high places who are making perfume on thee, and bones of man are burnt on thee.'

³ And he hath given on that day a sign, saying, `This [is] the sign that Jehovah hath spoken, Lo, the altar is rent, and the ashes poured forth that [are] on it.'

⁴ And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the word of the man of God that he calleth against the altar in Beth-El, that Jeroboam putteth forth his hand from off the altar, saying, `Catch him;' and his hand is dried up that he hath put forth against him, and he is not able to bring it back unto him,

⁵ and the altar is rent, and the ashes poured forth from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Jehovah.

⁶ And the king answereth and saith unto the man of God, `Appease, I pray thee, the face of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, and my hand doth come back unto me;' and the man of God appeaseth the face of Jehovah, and the hand of the king cometh back unto him, and it is as at the beginning.

⁷ And the king speaketh unto the man of God, `Come in with me to the house, and refresh thyself, and I give to thee a gift.'

⁸ And the man of God saith unto the king, `If thou dost give to me the half of thine house, I do not go in with thee, nor do I eat bread, nor do I drink water, in this place;

⁹ for so He commanded me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water, nor turn back in the way that thou hast come.'

¹⁰ And he goeth on in another way, and hath not turned back in the way in which he came in unto Beth-El.

⁹ What, then? are we better? not at all! for we did before charge both Jews and Greeks with being all under sin,

¹⁰ according as it hath been written -- `There is none righteous, not even one;

¹¹ There is none who is understanding, there is none who is seeking after God.

¹² All did go out of the way, together they became unprofitable, there is none doing good, there is not even one.

¹³ A sepulchre opened [is] their throat; with their tongues they used deceit; poison of asps [is] under their lips.

¹⁴ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

¹⁵ Swift [are] their feet to shed blood.

¹⁶ Ruin and misery [are] in their ways.

¹⁷ And a way of peace they did not know.

¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes.'

¹⁹ And we have known that as many things as the law saith, to those in the law it doth speak, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may come under judgment to God;

²⁰ wherefore by works of law shall no flesh be declared righteous before Him, for through law is a knowledge of sin.