Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
82 God stands up to open heaven’s court. He pronounces judgment on the judges.[a] 2 How long will you judges refuse to listen to the evidence? How long will you shower special favors on the wicked? 3 Give fair judgment to the poor man, the afflicted, the fatherless, the destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil men. 5 But you are so foolish and so ignorant! Because you are in darkness, all the foundations of society[b] are shaken to the core. 6 I have called you all “gods” and “sons of the Most High.” 7 But in death you are mere men. You will fall as any prince—for all must die.
8 Stand up, O God, and judge the earth. For all of it belongs to you. All nations are in your hands.
6 The Ark remained in the Philistine country for seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called for their priests and diviners and asked them, “What shall we do about the Ark of God? What sort of gift shall we send with it when we return it to its own land?”
3 “Yes, send it back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so that the plague will stop. Then, if it doesn’t, you will know God didn’t send the plague upon you after all.”
4-5 “What guilt offering shall we send?” they asked.
And they were told, “Send five gold models of the tumor caused by the plague, and five gold models of the rats that have ravaged the whole land—the capital cities and villages alike. If you send these gifts and then praise the God of Israel, perhaps he will stop persecuting you and your god. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. They wouldn’t let Israel go until God had destroyed them with dreadful plagues. 7 Now build a new cart and hitch to it two cows that have just had calves—cows that never before have been yoked—and shut their calves away from them in the barn. 8 Place the Ark of God on the cart beside a chest containing the gold models of the rats and tumors, and let the cows go wherever they want to. 9 If they cross the border of our land and go into Beth-shemesh, then you will know that it was God who brought this great evil upon us; if they don’t but return to their calves,[a] then we will know that the plague was simply a coincidence and was not sent by God at all.”
10 So these instructions were carried out. Two cows with newborn calves were hitched to the cart and their calves were shut up in the barn. 11 Then the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and tumors were placed upon the cart. 12 And sure enough, the cows went straight along the road toward Beth-shemesh, lowing as they went; and the Philistine mayors followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 The people of Beth-shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, and when they saw the Ark, they went wild with joy!
14 The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering. 15 Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark and the chest containing the gold rats and tumors from the cart and laid them on the rock. And many burnt offerings and sacrifices were offered to the Lord that day by the men of Beth-shemesh.
16 After the five Philistine mayors had watched for a while, they returned to Ekron that same day.
15 “So, when you see the horrible thing[a] (told about by Daniel the prophet) standing in a holy place (Note to the reader: You know what is meant!), 16 then those in Judea must flee into the Judean hills. 17 Those on their porches[b] must not even go inside to pack before they flee. 18 Those in the fields should not return to their homes for their clothes.
19 “And woe to pregnant women and to those with babies in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter, or on the Sabbath.[c] 21 For there will be persecution such as the world has never before seen in all its history and will never see again.
22 “In fact, unless those days are shortened, all mankind will perish. But they will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen people.[d]
23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘The Messiah has arrived at such and such a place, or has appeared here or there,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones[e] would be deceived. 25 See, I have warned you.
26 “So if someone tells you the Messiah has returned and is out in the desert, don’t bother to go and look. Or, that he is hiding at a certain place, don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall my coming be, when I, the Messiah,[f] return.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.