Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord Takes Care of His People
A miktam [C perhaps “inscription”] of David.
16 ·Protect [Guard] me, God,
because I ·trust [take refuge] in you.
2 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
·Every good thing I have comes from you [I have no good apart from you].”
3 As for the ·godly people [holy ones; saints] in the ·world [or land],
they are the ·wonderful [noble] ones I ·enjoy [take pleasure in].
4 But those who ·turn to [run/hurry after] ·idols [other gods]
·will have much [multiply] pain.
I will not ·offer [pour out offerings of] blood to those idols
or even ·speak [L take on my lips] their names.
5 No, the Lord is ·all I need [L my portion and my cup].
·He takes care of me [L You hold my lot; C a device like the Urim and Thummim whereby God reveals one’s future; Ex. 28:30].
6 ·My share in life has been pleasant [L The boundary lines fall for me in pleasant places];
my ·part [inheritance] has been beautiful.
7 I ·praise [bless] the Lord because he advises me.
Even at night, ·I feel his leading [L my innards instruct me].
8 I keep the Lord before me always.
Because he is ·close by my side [L at my right hand],
I will not be ·hurt [L moved; Acts 2:25].
9 So ·I rejoice and am glad [L my heart exults and my glory/soul/or innards is glad].
Even my body ·has hope [dwells securely; Acts 2:26],
10 because you will not ·leave [abandon] me in ·the grave [or the underworld; L Sheol].
You will not let your ·holy one [saint; loyal one] ·rot [L see the Pit; C the grave; Acts 2:27; 13:35].
11 You will teach me ·how to live a holy [L the path of] life.
·Being with you will fill me with joy [L In your face/presence is the fullness of joy; Acts 2:28];
at your right hand I will find pleasure forever.
15 ·Israel [L Jeshurun; C a name for Israel meaning “virtuous”; perhaps intended ironically; 33:5, 26; Is. 44:2] grew fat and kicked;
they were fat and ·full [bloated] and firm.
They ·left [abandoned] the God who made them
and ·rejected [dishonored] the Rock who saved them.
16 They made God jealous with ·foreign [strange] gods [4:24]
and angry with ·hateful idols [L abominations].
17 They made sacrifices to demons, not God,
to gods they had never known,
new gods from nearby,
gods your ·ancestors [fathers] did not fear.
18 You left God who is the Rock, ·your Father [L who bore you; or who begot you],
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and ·rejected [spurned] them;
his sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn ·away [L my face away] from them
and see what ·will happen to them [their end will be].
They are ·evil people [L a perverted generation],
·unfaithful [untrustworthy] children.
21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous [4:24]
and ·worthless idols [vanities; vain idols] to make me angry.
So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous;
I will use a nation that ·does not understand [L is foolish] to make them angry.
22 My anger has started a fire
that burns down to ·the place of the dead [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld].
It will ·burn up [consume] the ·ground [or earth] and its ·crops [produce],
and it will set fire to the ·base [foundations] of the mountains.
23 “I will pile ·troubles [disasters] upon them
and shoot my arrows at them.
24 They will be starved and sick,
destroyed by terrible diseases.
I will send them ·vicious [L the teeth of] animals
·and gliding, poisonous snakes [L with the poison/venom of creatures that crawl in the dust].
25 In the streets the sword will ·kill [bereave];
in their ·homes [bedrooms] there will be terror.
Young men and women will die,
and so will ·babies [sucklings] and gray-haired men.
26 I will ·scatter them [or dash them to pieces] as I said,
and ·no one will remember them [L I will cause their memory to cease from among humans].
27 But I didn’t want ·their enemy to brag [or to provoke the enemy];
their enemy might misunderstand
and say, ‘·We have won [L Our hand is lifted up]!
The Lord has done none of this.’”
39 “Now you will see that I am ·the one God [L he]!
There is no god but me.
I ·send death and life [kill and make alive];
I ·can hurt [wound], and I can heal.
No one can escape from ·me [L my hand].
40 I raise my hand toward heaven [C to make a promise]:
As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and I will take it in my hand to judge [Ps. 7:12–13].
I will ·punish [bring vengeance on] my enemies
and pay back those who hate me.
42 My arrows will be ·covered [L drunk] with their blood;
my sword will eat their flesh.
The blood will flow from those who are killed and the captives.
The ·heads of the enemy leaders [or long-haired enemy] will be cut off.”
43 ·Be happy [Rejoice], nations, with his people,
because he will repay you for the blood of his servants.
He will ·punish [work vengeance on] his enemies,
and he will ·remove the sin of [provide atonement for] his land and people.
Jesus Speaks of His Crucifixion(A)
21 Jesus ·warned [sternly commanded] them not to tell anyone, saying, 22 “The Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the ·leading [T chief] priests, and the ·teachers of the law [scribes]. He will be killed and ·after three days [L on the third day] will be raised from the dead.”
23 Jesus said to all of them, “If ·people want [L anyone wants] to follow me, they must ·give up the things they want [deny themselves; set aside their own interests]. They must ·be willing to give up their lives [L take up their cross] daily and follow me. 24 [L For] Those who want to save their lives will ·give up true life [L lose their life/soul; C Greek psychē can mean “life” or “soul”]. But those who ·give up [lose; sacrifice] their lives for ·me [my sake] will ·have true life [save their lives/souls]. 25 ·It is worthless [L What good/profit/benefit is it…?] to ·have [gain] the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost. 26 ·If people are [L For whoever is] ashamed of me and my ·teaching [message; words], then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some people standing here will not ·die [L taste death] before they see the kingdom of God.” [C “Seeing the kingdom of God” may refer to the Transfiguration which follows (9:28–36), Jesus’ resurrection, or the destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70.]
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