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.’
11 Ephraim's people have built many altars to make sin offerings.
But the altars have become places where the people do even more sins![a]
12 I carefully explained my laws to my people.
But they do not accept my laws as their own.
13 Israel's people offer sacrifices to me,
and they eat the meat from those sacrifices.
But their sacrifices do not please me.
I know that they are guilty of wicked things.
Soon I will punish them for their sins.
They will have to return to Egypt.
14 Israel's people have built beautiful palaces.
But they have forgotten me, who made them into a nation!
Judah's people have built many strong cities.
But I will send fire to destroy their cities and their strong buildings.’
The Lord says that Israel is guilty
10 Israel was like a healthy vine that had lots of grapes.
But as the Israelites became more and more rich,
they built more and more altars.
As their land gave more crops,
they made the pillars that they worshipped more beautiful.
2 They do not truly trust God.
They are guilty and they must receive their punishment.
The Lord will break their altars.
He will destroy their special pillars.
How we can live for God
13 Continue to love each other like brothers and sisters. 2 Always remember to be kind to strangers. Let them stay in your homes. In this way, some people have received angels as visitors, and they did not know that they were angels.[a]
3 Remember to help those believers who are in prison. Think about what that would be like, if you were there with them. Remember those believers who are receiving trouble from people. Think about them as if you were receiving the same pain in your own body.[b]
4 When a man and a woman have married each other, they must each respect the marriage. Husbands and wives must only have sex with each other. God will punish anyone who has sex with another person's husband or wife. He will punish anyone who has sex in a wrong way.
5 In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this:
‘I will never leave you;
I will always be there with you.’
6 Because of that, we can bravely say this:[c]
‘The Lord is the one who helps me,
so I will not be afraid.
I will not be afraid of anything that people can do to me.’
7 Remember your leaders, who taught God's message to you. Think about the way in which they have lived and the good things that they have done. They have trusted God, so you should have faith like they have.
8 Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and for ever. 9 Some people teach all kinds of strange new things.[d] Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.
10 Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that saves us. Jewish priests do not have the authority to receive anything from his sacrifice. 11 In the old agreement, the leader of the priests brings the blood from the animal sacrifices into the Most Holy Place. He does that so that God will forgive the sins of the people. But they take the bodies of those animals away from there. They burn them outside the town.[e] 12 In the same way, Jesus also died outside the city.[f] He died as a sacrifice on our behalf. His blood has made his people clean from their sins. 13 Jesus died like that in a place where people insulted him. So we must go out to that place too. We must be ready for people to insult us, as they insulted him. 14 Here on earth, we who are believers do not have a city that will always be our home. But we are waiting for God's city that will come.
15 So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time. 16 Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
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