Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 Now you, Lord my God, defend[a] me for your name’s sake;
because your gracious love is good, deliver me!
22 Indeed, I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am fading[b] away like a shadow late in the day;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way[c] from fasting,
and my skin is lean, deprived of oil.
25 I have become an object of derision to them—
they shake their heads whenever they see me.
26 Help me, Lord my God!
Deliver me in accord with your gracious love!
27 Then they will realize that your hand is in this—
that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
28 They will curse,
but you will bless.
When they attack,[d] they will[e] be humiliated,
while your servant rejoices.
29 May my accusers be clothed with shame
and wrapped in their humiliation as with a robe.
A Prophecy against Israel’s Elders
20 On the seventh year, on the tenth day[a] of the fifth month, men came from the elders of Israel to seek the Lord. They sat down in front of me.
2 “Son of Man,” the Lord told me, 3 “Tell the elders of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God asks, “Did you come to inquire of me? As long as I live, I won’t let myself be sought by you,” declares the Lord God.’
4 “Will you judge them? Son of Man, will you indeed judge them? Teach them about the detestable things that their ancestors did. 5 Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says, “The day I chose Israel, when I made my commitment[b] to the descendants of Jacob’s house, I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and I made my promise to them with the words, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ 6 That day I promised to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land that I had explored for them—a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s the most beautiful of all lands. 7 Then I told them, ‘Each of you are to abandon your detestable practices.[c] You are not to defile yourselves with Egypt’s idols. I am the Lord your God.’”’”
A Brief History of Israel’s Rebellion
8 “But they rebelled against me and weren’t willing to obey me. None of them abandoned their detestable practices[d] or their Egyptian idols. So I said, ‘I’ll pour out my anger on them, extending my fury in the middle of the land of Egypt.’ 9 I did this so my reputation[e] might not be tarnished among the nations where they were living, among whom I made myself known in their presence when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. 10 I brought them out of the land of Egypt to bring them to the wilderness 11 where I gave them my statutes and revealed my ordinances to them, which if a person[f] observes, he’ll live by them. 12 Also, I instituted[g] my Sabbath for them as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the Lord, who has set them apart.”
Israel Rebels in the Wilderness
13 “But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t live by[h] my statutes. They despised my ordinances, which if a person observes, he’ll live by them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my anger on them and bring them to an end in the wilderness. 14 I did this so my reputation wouldn’t be tarnished among the nations in whose presence I had brought them out.
15 “Moreover, I solemnly swore to them in the wilderness that I wouldn’t bring them to the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands— 16 because they kept on rejecting my ordinances. They didn’t live life consistent with my statutes, they profaned my Sabbaths, and their hearts followed[i] their idols. 17 Even then, I[j] looked on them with compassion and didn’t completely destroy them in the wilderness.
A Rest for the People of God
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as they did when they provoked me
during the time of testing in the wilderness.
9 There your ancestors tested me,
even though they had seen my actions 10 for 40 years.
That is why I was indignant with that generation and said,
‘They are always going astray in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So in my anger I swore a solemn oath
that they would never enter my rest.”[a]
12 See to it, my brothers, that no evil, unbelieving heart is found in any of you, as shown by your turning away from the living God. 13 Instead, continue to encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, 14 because we are the Messiah’s[b] partners only if we hold on to our original confidence to the end.[c] 15 As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as they did when they provoked me.”[d]
16 Now who heard him and provoked him? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led[e] by Moses? 17 And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned and whose bodies fell dead in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would never enter his rest? It was to those who disobeyed him, was it not? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of their unbelief.
We Must Enter the Rest
4 Therefore, as long as the promise of entering his rest remains valid, let us be afraid! Otherwise, some of you will fail[f] to reach it, 2 because we have had the good news told to us as well as to them. But the message they heard did not help them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened to it. 3 We who have believed are entering that rest, just as he has said,
“So in my anger I swore a solemn oath
that they would never enter my rest,”[g]
even though his actions had been finished since the creation[h] of the world. 4 Somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day as follows: “On the seventh day God rested from all his actions,”[i] 5 and again in this passage,[j] “They will never enter my rest.”[k] 6 Therefore, since it is still true that some will enter it, and since those who once heard the good news failed to enter it because of their disobedience, 7 he again fixes a definite day—“Today”—saying long afterward through David, as already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[l]
8 For if Joshua[m] had given them rest, he would not have spoken later about another day.
9 There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep, 10 because the one who enters God’s[n] rest has himself rested from his own actions, just as God did[o] from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fail by following their example of disobedience.
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