Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ה (Heh)
33 Teach me, Adonai, the way of your laws;
keeping them will be its own reward for me.
34 Give me understanding; then I will keep your Torah;
I will observe it with all my heart.
35 Guide me on the path of your mitzvot,
for I take pleasure in it.
36 Bend my heart toward your instructions
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
with your ways, give me life.
38 Fulfill your promise, which you made to your servant,
which you made to those who fear you.
39 Avert the disgrace which I dread,
for your rulings are good.
40 See how I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness, give me life!
15 The word of Adonai came to me: 16 “Human being, with a single blow I am about to deprive you of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, weep or let your tears run down. 17 Sigh silently, don’t observe mourning for the dead, bind your turban on your head, put your sandals on your feet, don’t cover your upper lip, and don’t eat the food people prepare for mourners.” 18 I spoke to the people in the morning, and that evening my wife died. So I did the following morning as I had been ordered. 19 The people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these actions of yours mean for us?” 20 I answered them, “The word of Adonai came to me, telling me 21 to speak to the house of Isra’el and say that this is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes and your heart’s desire. Your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die by the sword. 22 But you are to do as I have done — not cover your upper lips, not eat the food people prepare for mourners, 23 put your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet, and neither observe mourning nor cry. Rather, because of your crimes you will pine away and groan to one another. 24 Thus Yechezk’el will be a sign for you; you will do just what he has done; and when this happens, you will know that I am Adonai Elohim.’
25 “As for you, human being, on the day when I take away from them their stronghold, their crowning joy, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire, their sons and daughters — 26 on that day a fugitive will come and bring you the news; 27 and on that day your mouth will be opened for you to speak to the survivor and no longer be silent. In this way you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am Adonai.”
15 And how can people proclaim him unless God sends them? — as the Tanakh puts it, “How beautiful are the feet of those announcing good news about good things!”[a]
16 The problem is that they haven’t all paid attention to the Good News and obeyed it. For Yesha‘yahu says,
“Adonai, who has trusted what he has heard from us?”[b]
17 So trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah.
18 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that they didn’t hear?” No, they did hear —
“Their voice has gone out throughout the whole world
and their words to the ends of the earth.”[c]
19 “But, I say, isn’t it rather that Isra’el didn’t understand?”
“I will provoke you to jealousy over a non-nation,
over a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.”[d]
20 Moreover, Yesha‘yahu boldly says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me,
I became known to those who did not ask for me”;[e]
21 but to Isra’el he says,
“All day long I held out my hands
to a people who kept disobeying and contradicting.”[f]
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.