Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
For the director of music. A song of David when the prophet Nathan came to David after David’s sin with Bathsheba.
51 God, be merciful to me
because you are loving.
Because you are always ready to be merciful,
wipe out all my wrongs.
2 Wash away all my guilt
and make me clean again.
3 I know about my wrongs.
I can’t forget my sin.
4 You are the one I have sinned against.
I have done what you say is wrong.
So you are right when you speak.
You are fair when you judge me.
5 I was brought into this world in sin.
In sin my mother gave birth to me.
6 You want me to be completely truthful.
So teach me wisdom.
7 Take away my sin, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness.
Let the bones you crushed be happy again.
9 Turn your face from my sins.
Wipe out all my guilt.
10 Create in me a pure heart, God.
Make my spirit right again.
The Human Race Becomes Evil
6 The number of people on earth began to grow. Daughters were born to these people. 2 The sons of God saw that these girls were beautiful. And they married any of them they chose. 3 The Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain in human beings forever. This is because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had physical relations with the daughters of men. These women gave birth to children, who became famous. They were the mighty warriors of long ago.
5 The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked. He also saw that their thoughts were only about evil all the time. 6 The Lord was sorry he had made human beings on the earth. His heart was filled with pain.
Advice to a Young Preacher
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope.
2 To Timothy, a true son to me because you believe.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teaching
3 I want you to stay in Ephesus. I asked you to do that when I went into Macedonia. Some people there in Ephesus are teaching false things. Stay there so that you can command them to stop. 4 Tell them not to spend their time on stories that are not true and on long lists of names in family histories. These things only bring arguments; they do not help God’s work. God’s work is done by faith. 5 The purpose of this command is for people to have love. To have this love they must have a pure heart, they must do what they know is right, and they must have true faith. 6 Some people have wandered away from these things. They talk about things that are worth nothing. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about. They do not even understand what they say they are sure about.
8 We know that the law is good if a man uses it right. 9 We also know that the law is not made for good men. The law is made for people who are against the law and for those who refuse to follow the law. It is for people who are against God and are sinful, who are unholy and ungodly, who kill their fathers and mothers, who murder, 10 who take part in sexual sins, men who have physical relations with other men, those who sell slaves, who tell lies, who speak falsely, and who do anything against the true teaching of God. 11 That teaching is part of the Good News that God gave me to tell. That glorious Good News is from the blessed God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.