Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 But You, Adonai my Lord,
deal with me for Your Name’s sake.
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me.
22 For I am afflicted and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow,
shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees totter from fasting,
and my flesh is lean, with no fat.
25 And I have become a taunt to them.
When they see me, they wag their head.
26 Help me, Adonai my God,
Save me through Your lovingkindness.
27 Let them know that it is Your hand—
that You, Adonai, have done it.
28 They may curse, but You bless.
When they arise, they will be ashamed,
but Your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be clothed in disgrace,
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30 I will greatly thank Adonai with my mouth,
and in the midst of a throng will I praise Him.
31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save him from those who condemn his soul.
Rebellion and Return
20 On the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year, some of the elders of Israel came to seek Adonai. They sat before me. 2 The word of Adonai came to me saying: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel. Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I will not be inquired of by you.’
4 “Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Make them know the detestable practices of their fathers. 5 Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: On the day I chose Israel, I lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I lifted up My hand to them saying, ‘I am Adonai your God.’ 6 On that day I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the splendor of all lands. 7 I said to them, ‘Each of you must throw away every detestable thing from his eyes, and not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Adonai your God.’
8 “But they rebelled against Me and were unwilling to listen to Me. None of them cast away the detestable things that were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to expend My anger upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted, for the sake of My Name, to keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations, where they were, in whose sight I made Myself known to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. 10 So I led them out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 I gave them My laws and taught them My judgments, which if a man does, he will live by them. 12 I also gave them My Shabbatot, as a sign between Me and them, so that they would know that I am Adonai who made them holy.
13 “But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes. They rejected My judgments, which if a man does, he will live by them. They greatly profaned My Shabbatot. Then I resolved to pour out My fury on them in the wilderness to consume them. 14 But for the sake of My Name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Yet I also lifted My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the splendor of all lands. 16 For they rejected My laws, did not walk in My rulings and profaned My Shabbatot—for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, My eye spared them from destruction, so I did not make a full end of them in the wilderness.
Listen and Obey, or Harden and Fall Away
7 Therefore, just as the Ruach ha-Kodesh says,
“Today if you hear His voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as in the rebellion,[a]
on the day of testing[b] in the wilderness.
9 There your fathers put Me to the test,
though they saw My works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked by this generation,
and I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
and they have not known My ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”[c]
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil heart of unbelief that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day by day—as long as it is called “Today”—so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partners of Messiah, if we hold our original conviction firm until the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[d]
16 Now which ones heard and rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 And with whom was He provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest? Was it not to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter in because of lack of trust.
Make Every Effort to Enter God’s Rest
4 Let us fear then! Though a promise of entering His rest is left open, some of you would seem to have fallen short. 2 For we also have had Good News proclaimed to us, just as they did. But the word they heard did not help them, because they were not unified with those who listened in faith. 3 For we who have trusted are entering into that rest. It is just as God has said,
“So in My wrath I swore,
‘They shall never enter My rest,’”[e]
even though His works were finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works,” [f] 5 and again in this passage:
“They shall never enter My rest.”[g]
6 So then it remains for some to enter into it; yet those who formerly had Good News proclaimed to them did not enter because of disobedience. 7 Again, God appoints a certain day—“Today”—saying through David after so long a time, just as it has been said before,
“Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[h]
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So there remains a Shabbat rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered God’s rest has also ceased from his own work, just as God did from His.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through the same pattern of disobedience.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.