Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 89[a]
A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing continually[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.[d]
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”[f]
3 The Lord said,[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”[i] (Selah)
5 O Lord, the heavens[j] praise your amazing deeds,
as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.[k]
6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,[l]
7 a God who is honored[m] in the great angelic assembly,[n]
and more awesome than[o] all who surround him?
8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies![p]
Who is strong like you, O Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the proud sea.[q]
When its waves surge,[r] you calm them.
10 You crushed the Proud One[s] and killed it;[t]
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.
You made the world and all it contains.[u]
12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon[v] rejoice in your name.
13 Your arm is powerful,
your hand strong,
your right hand[w] victorious.[x]
14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.[y]
Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.[z]
15 How blessed are the people who worship you![aa]
O Lord, they experience your favor.[ab]
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated[ac] by your justice.
17 For you give them splendor and strength.[ad]
By your favor we are victorious.[ae]
18 For our shield[af] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.[ag]
Manasseh’s Reign
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did evil in the sight of[a] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[b] whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[c] and worshiped[d] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”[e] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his sons through the fire[f] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[g] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him.[h] 7 He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[i] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[j] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh misled the people of[k] Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
10 The Lord confronted[l] Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose,[m] bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. 12 In his pain[n] Manasseh[o] asked the Lord his God for mercy[p] and truly[q] humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.[r] 13 When he prayed to the Lord,[s] the Lord[t] responded to him[u] and answered favorably[v] his cry for mercy. The Lord[w] brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.
14 After this Manasseh[x] built up the outer wall of the City of David[y] on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city. 16 He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of[z] Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 However, the people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
People Commended for Their Faith
11 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 2 For by it the people of old[a] received God’s commendation.[b] 3 By faith we understand that the worlds[c] were set in order at God’s command,[d] so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.[e] 4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith[f] he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith[g] he still speaks, though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard[h] constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
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