Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Teth
65 Lord, you did good things for me, your servant.
You did what you promised to do.
66 Give me the knowledge to make wise decisions.
I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did many wrong things.
But now I carefully obey everything you say.
68 You are good, and you do good things.
Teach me your laws.
69 People full of pride made up lies about me.
But I keep obeying your instructions with all my heart.
70 Those people are so stupid that they care for nothing,
but I enjoy studying your teachings.
71 Suffering was good for me;
I learned your laws.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than a thousand pieces of silver and gold.
Shishak King of Egypt Attacks Jerusalem
12 Rehoboam became a strong king and made his kingdom strong. Then Rehoboam and the whole tribe of Judah[a] refused to obey the law of the Lord.
2 During the fifth year that Rehoboam was king, Shishak king of Egypt came to attack Jerusalem. This happened because Rehoboam and the people of Judah rebelled against the Lord. 3 Shishak had 1200 chariots, 60,000 horse riders, and an army that no one could count. In Shishak’s large army there were Libyan soldiers, Sukkite soldiers, and Ethiopian soldiers. 4 Shishak defeated the strong cities of Judah. Then Shishak brought his army to Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. The leaders of Judah had gathered together in Jerusalem because they all were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Rehoboam, you and the people of Judah have left me and refused to obey my law. So now I will leave you to face Shishak without my help.’”
6 Then the leaders of Judah and King Rehoboam were sorry and humbled themselves. They said, “The Lord is right.”
7 The Lord saw that the king and the leaders of Judah had humbled themselves. Then the message from the Lord came to Shemaiah. The Lord said, “The king and the leaders humbled themselves. So I will not destroy them, but I will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. 8 But the people of Jerusalem will become Shishak’s servants. This will happen so that they may learn that serving me is different from serving the kings of other nations.”
9 Shishak took the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and from the king’s palace. He also took the gold shields that Solomon had made. 10 King Rehoboam made more shields to put in their places, but they were made from bronze. He gave them to the guards on duty at the palace gates. 11 Every time the king went to the Lord’s Temple, the guards took out the shields and went with him. After they were finished, they put the shields back on the wall in the guardroom.
12 Rehoboam humbled himself, and the Lord stopped being angry with him. So he did not completely destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.
7 Remember your leaders. They taught God’s message to you. Remember how they lived and died, and copy their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Don’t let all kinds of strange teachings lead you into the wrong way. Depend only on God’s grace for spiritual strength, not on rules about foods. Obeying those rules doesn’t help anyone.
10 We have a sacrifice.[a] And those priests who serve in the Holy Tent cannot eat from the sacrifice we have. 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place[b] and offers that blood for sins. But the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the city. He died to make his people holy with his own blood. 13 So we should go to Jesus outside the camp and accept the same shame that he had. 14 Here on earth we don’t have a city that lasts forever. But we are waiting for the city that we will have in the future. 15 So through Jesus we should never stop offering our sacrifice to God. That sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share what you have with others, because sacrifices like these are very pleasing to God.
17 Obey your leaders. Be willing to do what they say. They are responsible for your spiritual welfare, so they are always watching to protect you. Obey them so that their work will give them joy, not grief. It won’t help you to make it hard for them.
18 Continue praying for us. We feel right about what we do, because we always try to do what is best. 19 And I beg you to pray that God will send me back to you soon. I want this more than anything else.
20-21 I pray that the God of peace will give you every good thing you need so that you can do what he wants. God is the one who raised from death our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of his sheep. He raised him because Jesus sacrificed his blood to begin the new agreement that never ends. I pray that God will work through Jesus Christ to do the things in us that please him. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International