Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
David wrote this song for the music leader.
God has helped me[a]
40 I was patient while I waited for the Lord to help me.
He turned towards me,
and he heard me when I called to him.
2 He lifted me out of the deep hole of danger.
He picked me up out of the mud.
He put my feet on a rock.
Then I could walk and not slip.
3 He gave me a new song to sing.
It was a song to praise our God.
Many people will see what God has done to help me.
Then they will respect and obey him.
Yes, they will trust in the Lord.
4 If anyone trusts in the Lord
he blesses them!
They do not expect proud people to help them.
They do not join with those people who worship false gods.
5 Lord, my God, you have done many great things.
You have done so many things for us
that we cannot count them!
There is nobody else like you!
I want to talk about the things that you have done,
but there are too many things to speak about!
6 You do not really want sacrifices and offerings.
I understand that!
You do not ask for burnt offerings
or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, my God!
The message that is written in the book
tells me what I must do.[b]
8 I want to do what pleases you.
Your law is always in my thoughts.’
9 In the great meeting of your people,
I have told them about your justice.
I cannot keep quiet!
You know that this is true, Lord.
10 I have not hidden the good news about your justice.
I have told everyone that they can trust you,
and that you have the power to save.
I tell the great meeting of your people about your faithful love.
11 You, Lord, will continue to be kind to me.
Please continue to keep me safe,
because of your faithful love.
15 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Now go and speak to Shebna, the officer with authority in the king's palace.[a] 16 Say to him, “You should not be here in the palace. You have cut a grave in the rock here for yourself, but you do not have the authority to do that! You have made a beautiful grave high up on the hill, as if you belong with the kings.
17 But look! The Lord will catch you and he will throw you out! You are just a man. He will take hold of you with all his strength. 18 He will hold you in his hand like a ball and he will throw you far away. You will die in that large, open country. Your great chariots will be useless there with you. You have brought shame to your master's family.”
19 I will remove you from your job. You will no longer be an important officer in the palace.
20 At that time, I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, to come. 21 I will put on him your special clothes. I will tie your belt round him. I will give your authority to him. Then Eliakim will become like a father to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Judah. 22 I will give the key of David's royal family to him. He will have complete authority. Any door that he opens, nobody may close it. Any door that he closes, nobody may open it.
23 I will fix him strongly in his place, like a peg in a strong wall. Because of him, people will respect and praise his father's family. 24 His children and his family will become more important because of him. They will be like bowls, cups and jars that hang on him as the strong peg.’
25 The Lord Almighty says, ‘When the time comes, the strong peg will fall out of the wall. I will cut it down and it will fall. Then all the things that hang on it will fall down as well.’
That is what the Lord has said.
The true message of good news
6 I am very surprised that you are turning away so soon from God. He is the one who chose you to come to him. He did that because Christ is very kind to you. But now you want to accept a different message which some people call good news. 7 But really, there is no other message from God which is good news. Some people are confusing you. They are trying to change the good news about Christ and make it something different. 8 Nobody should ever teach a message that is different from the good news that we taught you. Neither we ourselves, nor even an angel from heaven, should ever teach a different message. If anyone does that, I pray that God would curse him. 9 We have already said this, but now I will say it again. Do not accept any message that is different from the message that we taught you. If anyone teaches a different message, I pray that God will curse him very strongly.
10 When I say these things, I am not trying to please people. No, it is God that I want to please. If I only wanted to make people happy, then I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul's message is from God
11 The good news that I tell people did not come from any person on earth. I want you to know that, my friends. 12 Nobody on earth gave it to me. Nobody taught it to me. No, it was Jesus Christ himself who showed it to me clearly.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.