Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart[a] to fear your name.
12 I will give you thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and glorify your name forever,
13 because your loyal love is great toward me,
and you will have delivered my life from Sheol[b] below.
14 O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
even a gang of ruthless men seek my life,
but they do not set you before them.[c]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger[d] and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give your strength to your servant,
and grant victory to the son[e] of your maidservant.
17 Do a sign that benefits me,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Idolatry Is Ridiculous
9 All those who form an idol are nothing,
and their delightful things do not profit.
And their witnesses do not see or know,
so they will be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god
and cast an image of which he cannot profit?
11 Look! all his companions shall be ashamed,
and the artisans are human!
Let all of them assemble;
let them stand up.
They shall tremble;[a]
they shall be ashamed together.
12 The ironsmith[b] works in the coals with his tool
and forms it with hammers.
And he makes it with his strong arm;[c]
indeed, he becomes hungry, and he lacks[d] strength;
he does not drink water, and he is faint.
13 The woodworker[e] stretches out a line;
he makes an outline of it with a marker.
He makes it with a knife
and makes an outline of it with a compass.
He makes it like the image of a man,
like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a temple.[f]
14 Cutting down cedars for himself,
he chooses[g] a holm tree and an oak,
and he lets it grow strong for him among the trees of the forest.
He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow.
15 And it becomes fuel for a human,[h]
and he takes some of it and grows warm;
also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Also, he makes a god and bows in worship;
he makes himself an image and bows down to it!
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
he eats meat over half of it;
he roasts a roast and is satisfied.
Also he grows warm and says, “Ah!
I am warm! I see the fire!”
17 And he makes the remainder of it into a god!
He bows down to his idol,
and he bows in worship and prays to him,
and he says, “Save me, for you are my god!”
The Reliability of God’s Promise
13 For when[a] God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying,
15 And so, by[d] persevering, he obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by what is greater than themselves, and the oath for confirmation is the end of all dispute for them. 17 In the same way God, because he[e] wanted to show even more to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his resolve, guaranteed it with an oath, 18 in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge may have powerful encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, 19 which we have like an anchor of the soul, both firm and steadfast, and entering into the inside of the curtain, 20 where Jesus, the forerunner for us, entered, because he[f] became a high priest forever[g] according to the order of Melchizedek.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software