Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 But you, O Yahweh my Lord,
deal with me for your name’s sake.
Because your loyal love is good, deliver me,
22 for I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 Like a lengthening shadow I am passing away;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees buckle[a] from fasting,
and my body grows lean without fat.
25 And so I am a disgrace to them;
when they see me, they shake their heads.[b]
26 Help me, O Yahweh my God;
save me according to your loyal love,
27 that they may know that this is your hand,
that you, O Yahweh, you have done it.
28 Let them curse, but you bless.
When they arise, let them be put to shame,
that your servant may be glad.
29 Let my accusers put on disgrace,
and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a robe.
30 I will give thanks to Yahweh exceedingly with my mouth,
and in the midst of many I will praise him,
31 for he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save him from those judging his life.[c]
God’s Dealings with Israel for His Name’s Sake
20 And then in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, men from the elders of Israel came to consult Yahweh, and they sat before me.[a] 2 And the word of Yahweh came[b] to me, saying,[c] 3 “Son of man,[d] speak with the elders of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Are you coming to consult me? As I live,[e] I will surely not allow myself[f] to be consulted by you!”’ declares[g] the Lord Yahweh. 4 Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man?[h] Make known to them the detestable things of their ancestors.[i] 5 And you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “On the day of my choosing Israel I swore[j] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and I swore[k] to them, saying,[l] ‘I am Yahweh your God.’ 6 On that day I swore[m] to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. 7 Then I said to them, ‘Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one did not throw away[n] the detestable things of their eyes; and they did not abandon[o] the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 “But[p] I acted for the sake of my name to keep it from being profaned[q] before the eyes of the nations among whom they lived,[r] where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. 10 And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, 11 and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. 12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them so they would know[s] that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them.
13 “But[t] in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes,[u] and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, 14 and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations before whom I brought them out.[v] 15 And also I myself swore[w] to them in the desert not to bring them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands— 16 because they despised my judgments, and they did not walk in my statutes,[x] and my Sabbaths they profaned, for their heart was going after their idols. 17 But my eye took pity on them by not destroying them, and I did not completely destroy them[y] in the desert.
A Serious Warning Against Unbelief
7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
in the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers tested me by trial
and saw my works 10 for forty years.
Therefore I was angry with this generation,
and I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
11 As I swore in my anger,
‘They will never enter[a] into my rest.’”[b]
12 Watch out, brothers, lest there be in some of you an evil, unbelieving heart, with the result that you fall away[c] from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day by day[d], as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you become hardened[e] by the deception of sin. 14 For we have become partners of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of our commitment steadfast until the end, 15 while it is said[f],
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[g]
16 For who, when they[h] heard it, were disobedient? Surely it was not all who went out from Egypt through Moses? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear they would not enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
The Rest that Remains for the People of God
4 Therefore let us fear, while there[i] remains a promise of entering into his rest, that none of you appear to fall short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us[j], just as those also did, but the message they heard[k] did not benefit them, because they[l] were not united with those who heard it in faith. 3 For we who have believed enter into rest,[m] just as he has said,
And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[p] 5 and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter[q] into my rest.’”[r] 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[s]
8 For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9 Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.
11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience.
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