Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(By David.)

A Prayer for Guidance and Help

⁵ Suppose there is a truly good man who always does what is fair and right. ⁶ He refuses to eat meat sacrificed to foreign gods at local shrines or to worship Israel's idols. He doesn't have sex with someone else's wife or with a woman having her monthly period. ⁷ He never cheats or robs anyone and always returns anything taken as security for a loan; he gives food and clothes to the poor ⁸ and doesn't charge interest when lending money. He refuses to do anything evil; he is fair to everyone ^9 (A) and faithfully obeys my laws and teachings. This man is good, and I promise he will live.

¹⁰ But suppose this good man has an evil son who is violent and commits sins ¹¹ his father never did. He eats meat at local shrines, has sex with someone else's wife, ¹² cheats the poor, and robs people. He keeps what is given to him as security for a loan. He worships idols, does disgusting things, ¹³ and charges high interest when lending money. An evil man like that will certainly not live. He is the one who has done these horrible sins, so it's his own fault that he will be put to death.

¹⁴ But suppose this evil man has a son who sees his father do these things and refuses to act like him. ¹⁵ He doesn't eat meat at local shrines or worship Israel's idols, and he doesn't have sex with someone else's wife. ¹⁶ He never cheats or robs anyone and doesn't even demand security for a loan. He gives food and clothes to the poor ¹⁷ and refuses to do anything evil^[a] or to charge interest. And he obeys all my laws and teachings. Such a man will live. His own father sinned, but this good man will not be put to death for the sins of his father. ¹⁸ It is his father who will die for cheating and robbing and doing evil.

³² God made a promise to our ancestors. And we are here to tell you the good news ^33 (A) that he has kept this promise to us. It is just as the second Psalm says about Jesus,

^34 (B) God raised Jesus from death and will never let his body decay. It is just as God said,

^35 (C) And in another psalm it says, “God will never let the body of his Holy One decay.”

³⁶ When David was alive, he obeyed God. Then after he died, he was buried in the family grave, and his body decayed. ³⁷ But God raised Jesus from death, and his body did not decay.

³⁸ My friends, the message is that Jesus can forgive your sins! The Law of Moses could not set you free from all your sins. ³⁹ But everyone who has faith in Jesus is set free. ⁴⁰ Make sure what the prophets have said doesn't happen to you. They said,