Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Honest People Are Blessed
112 Praise the Lord!
·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7; 31:30],
who ·want [take great delight in] ·what he [L his] commands.
2 Their ·descendants [L seed] will be ·powerful [strong] in the land;
the ·children [generation] of ·honest [virtuous] people will be blessed.
3 Their houses will be full of wealth and riches,
and their ·goodness [righteousness] will ·continue [endure; L stand] forever.
4 A light shines in the dark for ·honest [virtuous] people,
for those who are ·merciful [gracious] and ·kind [compassionate] and ·good [merciful].
5 It is good to be ·merciful [gracious] and ·generous [to lend].
Those who ·are fair in their business [conduct their affairs justly]
6 will never be ·defeated [moved].
·Good [Righteous] people will always be remembered.
7 They ·won’t be afraid of [do not fear] ·bad news [to hear evil; Prov. 30:25];
their hearts are ·steady [steadfast; established; prepared] because they ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord.
8 They ·are confident [endure; are unshakeable; 111:8] and will not ·be afraid [fear];
they will look down on their ·enemies [foes].
9 They ·give freely [L distribute/scatter, they give] to the ·poor [needy].
·The things they do are right and [Their righteousness] will ·continue [endure] forever [2 Cor. 9:9].
·They will be given great honor [L Their horn is exalted in glory; C an animal’s horn symbolizes strength].
10 The wicked will see this and become angry;
they will ·grind [gnash] their teeth [C in anger] and then ·disappear [melt away].
The ·wishes [cravings; desires] of the wicked will ·come to nothing [perish].
Marriage Laws
13 If a man marries a girl and has sexual relations with her but then decides he ·does not like [L hates] her, 14 he might ·talk badly about her [charge her with wanton behavior] and give her a bad name. He might say, “I married this woman, but when I ·had sexual relations with [approached] her, I did not find that she was a virgin.” 15 Then the girl’s ·parents [L father and mother] must bring ·proof [evidence] that she was a virgin to the elders at the city gate. 16 The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, but now he ·does not want [L hates] her. 17 This man has ·told lies about my daughter [charged my daughter with wanton behavior]. He has said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin,’ but here is the ·proof [evidence] that my daughter was a virgin.” Then her parents are to show the sheet [C blood-stained, showing she had been a virgin] to the elders of the city, 18 and the elders must take the man and ·punish [discipline] him. 19 They must make him pay about ·two and one-half pounds [L one hundred shekels] of silver to the girl’s father, because the man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. The girl will continue to be the man’s wife, and he may not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But if ·the things the husband said about his wife are [L this word/charge is] true, and there is no ·proof [evidence] that she was a virgin, 21 the girl must be brought to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the town must put her to death by ·throwing stones at [stoning] her. She has done a ·disgraceful [shameful] thing in Israel by ·having sexual relations before she was married [L acting like a prostitute in the house of her father]. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] the evil among you.
22 If a man is found ·having sexual relations [L lying] with another man’s wife, both the woman and the man who ·had sexual relations [L lay] with her must die. ·Get rid of [Banish; Purge] this evil from Israel.
23 If a man meets a virgin in a city and ·has sexual relations [L lies] with her, but she is engaged to another man, 24 you must take both of them to the city gate and ·put them to death by throwing stones at [stone] them. Kill the girl, because she was in a city and did not scream for help. And kill the man for having sexual relations with ·another man’s wife [the wife of his neighbor/friend]. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] the evil among you.
25 But if a man meets an engaged girl out in the ·country [field] and ·forces her to have sexual relations with him [L seizes her and lies with her], only the man who ·had sexual relations [L lay] with her must be put to death. 26 Don’t do anything to the girl, because she has not done a sin worthy of death. This is like the person who ·attacks [rises up] and murders a neighbor; 27 the man found the engaged girl in the ·country [field] and she ·screamed [yelled for help], but no one was there to ·save [rescue] her.
28 If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged to be married and ·forces her to have sexual relations with him [L grabs her and lies with her] and ·people find out about it [L is discovered], 29 the man who ·had sexual relations [L lay] with her must pay the girl’s father about ·one and one-fourth pounds [L fifty shekels] of silver. He must also marry the girl, because he has ·dishonored [humiliated; raped] her, and he may never divorce her for as long as he lives [Ex. 22:16–17].
30 A man must not marry his father’s wife; he must not ·dishonor his father in this way [L uncover his father’s skirt; Lev. 18:7–8; 20:11].
About Marriage
7 Now ·I will discuss [L concerning] the things you wrote me about [C in a letter from the Corinthians; see 8:1; 12:1; 16:1]. It is good for a man not to ·have sexual relations with [L touch; C a euphemism for sex] a woman [C probably another slogan (6:12; 8:1, 4; 10:23) asserting that a celibate lifestyle was spiritually superior]. 2 But because ·sexual sin is a danger [of sexual temptations; L of sexual sins], each man should ·have [or have sexual relations with] his own wife, and each woman should ·have [or have sexual relations with] her own husband. 3 The husband should give his wife all that he owes her as his wife [C meet her sexual needs]. And the wife should give her husband all that she owes him as her husband [C meet his sexual needs]. 4 The wife does not have ·full rights [L authority] over her own body; her husband shares them. And the husband does not have ·full rights [authority] over his own body; his wife shares them [C revolutionary teaching in the first century, when wives were generally viewed as the possession of their husbands]. 5 Do not ·refuse to give your bodies to [refuse sex to; L deprive] each other, unless you both agree to stay away from sexual relations for a time so you can ·give your time [devote yourselves] to prayer. Then ·come together again [resume your sexual relationship] so Satan cannot tempt you because of a lack of self-control. 6 I say this ·to give you permission to stay away from sexual relations for a time [L as a concession/allowance]. It is not a command to do so. 7 I wish that everyone were like me [C unmarried], but each person has his own gift from God. One has one gift, another has another gift.
8 Now for those who are not married and for the widows I say this: It is good for them to stay unmarried as I am. 9 But if they cannot ·control themselves [exercise self-control], they should marry. It is better to marry than ·to burn with sexual desire [L to burn].
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.