Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 2

¹ Why do the nations assemble with commotion [uproar and confusion of voices], and why do the people imagine (meditate upon and devise) an empty scheme?

² The kings of the earth take their places; the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). They say,^(A)

³ Let us break Their bands [of restraint] asunder and cast Their cords [of control] from us.

⁴ He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].

⁵ He speaks to them in His deep anger and troubles (terrifies and confounds) them in His displeasure and fury, saying,

⁶ Yet have I anointed (installed and placed) My King [firmly] on My holy hill of Zion.

⁷ I will declare the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, You are My Son; this day [I declare] I have begotten You.^(B)

⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.

⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like potters’ ware.^(C)

¹⁰ Now therefore, O you kings, act wisely; be instructed and warned, O you rulers of the earth.

¹¹ Serve the Lord with reverent awe and worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits with trembling [lest you displease Him].

¹² Kiss the Son [pay homage to Him in purity], lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be kindled. O blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are all those who seek refuge and put their trust in Him!

² And God said to Moses, I am the Lord.

³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My ^[a]name the Lord [Yahweh—the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles].^(A)

⁴ I have also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their temporary residence in which they were strangers.

⁵ I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved; and I have [earnestly] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob].

⁶ Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm [with special and vigorous action] and by mighty acts of judgment.

⁷ And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that it is I, the Lord your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸ And I will bring you into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand and swore that I would give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord [you have the pledge of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].

⁹ Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses because of their impatience and anguish of spirit and because of their cruel bondage.

8 Now the main point of what we have to say is this: We have such a High Priest, One Who is seated at the right hand of the majestic [God] in heaven,^(A)

² As officiating Priest, a Minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle which is erected not by man but by the Lord.

³ For every high priest is appointed to offer up gifts and sacrifices; so it is essential for this [High Priest] to have some offering to make also.

⁴ If then He were still living on earth, He would not be a priest at all, for there are [already priests] who offer the gifts in accordance with the Law.

⁵ [But these offer] service [merely] as a pattern and as a foreshadowing of [what has its true existence and reality in] the heavenly sanctuary. For when Moses was about to erect the tabernacle, he was warned by God, saying, See to it that you make it all [exactly] according to the copy (the model) which was shown to you on the mountain.^(B)

⁶ But as it now is, He [Christ] has acquired a [priestly] ministry which is as much superior and more excellent [than the old] as the covenant (the agreement) of which He is the Mediator (the Arbiter, Agent) is superior and more excellent, [because] it is enacted and rests upon more important (sublimer, higher, and nobler) promises.

⁷ For if that first covenant had been without defect, there would have been no room for another one or an attempt to institute another one.