Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
17 ·Do good [Grant this] to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can ·obey [keep; guard] your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the ·miracles [wonders] in your ·teachings [instructions; law].
19 I am a ·stranger [sojourner; alien resident] ·on earth [or in the land].
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 ·I wear myself out [My soul pines away] with ·desire [longing]
for your ·laws [judgments] all the time.
21 You ·scold [rebuke; reprimand] ·proud [arrogant] people;
those who ·ignore [wander from] your commands are cursed.
22 ·Don’t let me be insulted and hated [L Take away insult and contempt]
because I keep your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
23 Even if princes sit around and speak against me,
I, your servant, will ·think [meditate] about your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
24 Your ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] give me pleasure;
they ·give me good advice [L are my advisors/counselors].
Proof for Moses
4 Then Moses answered, “What if ·the people of Israel [L they] do not ·believe [trust] me or listen to ·me [L my voice]? What if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
Moses answered, “It is my ·walking stick [staff; C representing the presence of God].”
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a ·snake [serpent]. Moses ·ran [fled] from the ·snake [serpent], 4 but the Lord said to him, “·Reach out [L Send out your hand] and ·grab [grasp; catch] the ·snake [serpent] by its tail.” When ·Moses [L he] ·reached out [L sent out his hand] and ·took hold of [snatched] ·the snake [L it], it again became a ·stick [staff] in his hand. 5 The Lord said, “This is so that the ·Israelites [L they] will ·believe [trust] that the Lord appeared to you. I am the God of their ·ancestors [fathers], the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Put your hand inside your ·coat [cloak; L bosom].” So Moses put his hand inside his ·coat [cloak; L bosom]. When he took it out, it was ·white [L like snow] with ·a skin disease [T leprosy; C the word is used for a variety of skin diseases].
7 Then he said, “Now put your hand inside your ·coat [cloak; L bosom] again.” So Moses put his hand inside his ·coat [cloak; L bosom] again. When he took it out [L of his coat/cloak/bosom], ·his hand was healthy again, like the rest of his skin [L it was restored like his flesh].
8 Then the Lord said, “If the people do not ·believe [trust] you or ·pay attention to [listen to the evidence of] the first ·miracle [sign], they may ·believe [trust] you when you show them this second ·miracle [sign]. 9 After these two ·miracles [signs], if they still do not ·believe [trust] or listen to ·you [L your voice], take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the dry ground. The water will become blood ·when it touches [L on] the ground.”
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been a ·skilled speaker [L man of words]. Even now, after talking to you, I cannot speak well. I ·speak slowly and can’t find the best words [L have a heavy/slow mouth and a heavy/slow tongue].”
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who made a person’s mouth? And who makes someone deaf or ·not able to speak [mute]? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. 12 Now go! I will ·help you speak [L be with your mouth], and I will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone ·else [L you want to send].”
14 The Lord became angry with Moses and said, “[L Do I not know that…?] Your brother Aaron, from the family of Levi, is a ·skilled [fluent; smooth] speaker. He is already coming to meet you, and ·he will be happy [L his heart will rejoice] when he sees you. 15 You will speak to Aaron and ·tell him what to say [L place your words in his mouth]. I will ·help both of you to speak [L be with your mouth and with his mouth] and will teach you what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. ·You will tell him what God says, and he will speak for you [L He will be your mouth and you will be like God to him]. 17 Take your ·walking stick [staff; 4:2] ·with you [L in your hand], and use it to do the ·miracles [signs].”
Jesus Is the Living Stone
2 So then, rid yourselves of all evil, all ·lying [deceit], hypocrisy, ·jealousy [envy], and ·evil speech [slander; C all traits that destroy relationships; Rom. 13:13; Eph. 4:25–32; Col. 3:8]. 2 As newborn babies want milk, you should want the ·pure [sincere; unadulterated] and ·simple [or spiritual] ·teaching [L milk; C probably referring to the word of God; see 1:23–25]. By it you can ·mature [grow; reach maturity] in your salvation, 3 because you have already ·examined and seen [L tasted] how good the Lord is [Ps. 34:8].
4 Come to the Lord Jesus, the ·“stone” that lives [L a living stone; C Jesus is the most important stone in the spiritual temple described in v. 5]. ·The people of the world did not want this stone, but he was the stone God chose, and he was precious [L …rejected by people, but chosen and precious/valuable to God]. 5 You also are like living stones, so let yourselves be used to build a spiritual ·temple [house]—to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices that are ·acceptable [pleasing] to God ·through [or because they are mediated by] Jesus Christ. 6 The Scripture ·says [L contains]:
“[L See; Look,] I will ·put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem [L lay a stone in Zion; C Zion is a poetic term for Jerusalem].
·Everything will be built on this important and precious rock [L a chosen and precious cornerstone; C the stone that supports the others].
Anyone who ·trusts [believes; has faith] in him
will never be ·disappointed [L put to shame; Is. 28:16].”
7 ·This stone is worth much to you who believe [or You who believe see the honor/value/preciousness of the stone; L The honor is to you who believe]. But to the people who do not believe,
“the stone that the builders rejected
has become ·the cornerstone [L head of the corner; C the precise meaning is uncertain, but clearly refers to the most important stone in a building; Ps. 118:22; compare Mark 12:10–11; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20–22].”
8 ·Also, he is [L And]
“a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that ·makes them fall [trips them; snares them; causes them to sin; offends them; Is. 8:14; Rom. 9:32–33].”
They stumble because they do not obey ·what God says [the message/word], which is what God ·planned to happen to [destined/appointed for] them.
9 But you are a chosen ·people [or generation; Is. 43:21], royal ·priests [L priesthood], a holy nation, a people ·for God’s own possession [who belong to God; Ex. 19:5–6]. You were chosen to ·tell about the wonderful acts of God, who [proclaim the praises/virtues of him who] called you out of darkness into his ·wonderful [marvelous] light. 10 At one time you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. In the past you had ·never [L not] received mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy [Hos. 2:23].
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