Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress
For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, [a]who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
18 He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, (A)my strength.”
2 Yahweh is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon Yahweh, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of vileness [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon Yahweh,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the (P)earth shook and quaked;
And the (Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [d]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He (S)bowed the heavens and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [e]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 Yahweh also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High gave forth His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [f]threw them into confusion.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were [g]laid bare
At Your (AD)rebuke, O Yahweh,
At the blast of the (AE)breath of Your nostrils.
16 He (AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of (AG)many waters.
17 He (AH)delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were (AI)too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in (AJ)the day of my disaster,
But (AK)Yahweh was my support.
19 He brought me forth also into a (AL)broad place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
Yahweh Destroys Sodom and Gomorrah
19 Then the (A)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. (B)Lot saw them and rose to meet them and [a]bowed down with his [b]face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; (C)and he made a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, (D)the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people [c]from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “(E)Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may [d]know them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now behold, (F)I have two daughters who have not known a man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them what is good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the [e]shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Step aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came to sojourn, and already (G)he is persistently acting like a judge; now we will treat you more wickedly than them.” So they pressed hard against [f]Lot and stepped up to break the door. 10 But (H)the men reached out their [g]hands and brought Lot into the house [h]with them and shut the door. 11 (I)And they [i]struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from small to great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and everyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place because (J)their outcry has become great before Yahweh, so (K)Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.” 14 And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who [j]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, (L)get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” (M)But he appeared to his sons-in-law [k]to be jesting.
15 Now at the [l]breaking of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the [m]punishment of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. So the men (N)seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the [n]hands of his two daughters, for (O)the compassion of Yahweh was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. 17 Now it happened, as they brought them outside, [o]one said, “(P)Escape for your life! (Q)Do not look behind you, and do not stay [p]anywhere in the (R)valley; escape to (S)the [q]mountains, lest you be swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by preserving my life; but I cannot escape to the [r]mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) [s]that my life may be preserved.” 21 And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this [t]request also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called [u](T)Zoar.
23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 And Yahweh (U)rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven, 25 and (V)He overthrew those cities, and all the [v]valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 Then his wife, from behind him, (W)looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to (X)the place where he had stood before Yahweh; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the [w]valley, and he saw, and behold, (Y)the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a [x]furnace.
29 Thus it happened, when God destroyed the cities of the [y]valley, that (Z)God remembered Abraham and (AA)sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
14 (A)What shall we say then? (B)Is there any unrighteousness with God? (C)May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “(D)I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who (E)runs, but on (F)God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “(G)For this very purpose I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and in order that My name might be proclaimed [a]throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He (H)hardens whom He desires.
19 (I)You will say to me then, “(J)Why does He still find fault? For (K)who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, (L)O man, who (M)answers back to God? (N)Will the thing molded say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this”? 21 Or does not the potter have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel [b]for honorable use and another [c]for dishonorable use? 22 And [d]what if God, wanting to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much (O)patience vessels of wrath (P)having been prepared for destruction, 23 and in order that He might make known (Q)the riches of His glory upon (R)vessels of mercy, which He (S)prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us, whom He also (T)called, (U)not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles? 25 As He says also in Hosea,
“(V)I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
26 “(W)And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of (X)the living God.”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “(Y)Though the number of the sons of Israel be (Z)like the sand of the sea, it is (AA)the remnant that will be saved; 28 (AB)for the Lord will execute His word on the land, [e]thoroughly and [f]quickly.” 29 And just as Isaiah foretold,
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