Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 66[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
1 For the director.[b] A song. A psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;[c]
2 sing to the glory of his name;[d]
offer to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power,
your enemies grovel before you.
4 The whole earth bows down in worship before you,
singing praises to you,
singing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and behold[e] the works of God,
the awesome deeds he has done for people.
6 He changed the sea into dry land;
they crossed the river[f] on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 for he rules forever by his power.
His eyes keep watch over the nations
so that the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
8 [g]Bless our God, all you peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 For he has preserved our lives[h]
and has kept our feet from stumbling.
Chapter 21
Reign of Manasseh. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, practicing the abominations of the nations whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. He raised up altars to Baal, and he made an Asherah, just as Ahab, the king of Israel, had done. He also worshiped the hosts of heaven[a] and served them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord of which the Lord had stated, “I will place my name in Jerusalem.” 5 He built altars for the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. 6 He burned his son in flames, practiced witchcraft, used divination, and cooperated with mediums and wizards. He did horrible things in the sight of the Lord, provoking the Lord to anger. 7 He set up a carved image of the Asherah in the temple about which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon, his son, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from out of the tribes of Israel, I will place my name forever, 8 nor will I make the feet of Israel wander from the land that I have given to their fathers if only they will be careful to do everything that I have commanded them, everything according to the law that Moses, my servant, gave them.”
9 But they would not listen, and Manasseh enticed them to do more evil than the nations that the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites had done.
10 The Lord therefore spoke through his servant, the prophets, saying, 11 “Manasseh, the king of Judah, has committed these abominations, doing worse things than the Amorites who preceded him, causing Judah to sin with his idols. 12 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing a terrible disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah that is so bad that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle. 13 [b]I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line that I used against Samaria and the plumb line I used against the house of Ahab. 14 I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a dish, wiping it out and turning it over. I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance, and I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies. They will be plunder and booty to all of their enemies 15 for they have done what is evil in my sight, provoking me to anger from the day that their fathers came forth from Egypt even up to the present day.”
14 Sin and Death. We clearly understand that the Law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want; rather, I do what I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, then I agree that the Law is good.[a] 17 This indicates that it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot do what is good. 19 For I do not do the good I desire; rather, it is the evil I do not desire that I end up doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not desire, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I have thus discovered this principle: when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 In my innermost self, I delight in the Law of God, 23 but I perceive in the members of my body another law at war with the Law that I cherish in my mind. Thus, I am made captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body destined for death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with my mind I am a slave to the Law of God, but with my flesh to the law of sin.
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