Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm. When the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
A Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
51 Have mercy, God, according to your gracious love,
according to your unlimited compassion,
erase my transgressions.
2 Wash me from my iniquity,
cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgression;
my sin remains continuously before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and done what was evil in your sight.
As a result, you are just in your pronouncement
and clear in your judgment.
5 Indeed, in iniquity I was brought forth;
in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person,
and you will teach me wisdom in my[a] innermost parts.
7 Purge me with hyssop,
and I will be clean.
Wash me,
and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me know[b] joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your countenance from my sins
and erase the record of my iniquities.
10 God, create a pure heart in me,
and renew a right attitude within me.
The Flood Begins
6 Noah was 600 years old when water began to flood the earth. 7 Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark with him before the flood waters arrived.[a] 8 From both clean and unclean animals, from birds, and from everything that crawls on the ground, 9 two by two, male and female, they entered the ark to join Noah, just as God had commanded.
10 Seven days later, the flooding started.
The Waters Recede
8 God kept Noah in mind, along with all the wildlife[a] and livestock that were with him in the ark. God’s Spirit[b] moved throughout the earth, causing the flood waters to subside. 2 The water sources from the ocean depths were blocked and the floodgates of the heavens were closed. 3 Then the flood waters steadily receded,[c] diminishing completely by the end of the 150 days. 4 The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat[d] on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. 5 The flood water continued to recede until the tenth month, when, on the first of that month, the tops of the mountains could be seen.
Warning against False Teachers
2 Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned.[a] 3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.[b]
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell[c] and imprisoned them in chains[d] of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment; 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; 6 and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people— 8 for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions— 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment, 10 especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority.
Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings.
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