Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The Lord watches over the righteous
and listens to their cries;
16 but he opposes those who do evil,
so that when they die, they are soon forgotten.
17 The righteous call to the Lord, and he listens;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who are discouraged;
he saves those who have lost all hope.
19 Good people suffer many troubles,
but the Lord saves them from them all;
20 (A)the Lord preserves them completely;
not one of their bones is broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate the righteous will be punished.
22 The Lord will save his people;
those who go to him for protection will be spared.
The Altar by the Jordan
10 When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh arrived at Geliloth, still on the west side[a] of the Jordan, they built a large, impressive altar there by the river. 11 The rest of the people of Israel were told, “Listen! The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have built an altar at Geliloth, on our side of the Jordan!” 12 When the people of Israel heard this, the whole community came together at Shiloh to go to war against the eastern tribes.
13 Then the people of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in the land of Gilead. 14 Ten leading men went with Phinehas, one from each of the western tribes and each one the head of a family among the clans. 15 They came to the land of Gilead, to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, 16 (A)and speaking for the whole community of the Lord, they said to them, “Why have you done this evil thing against the God of Israel? You have rebelled against the Lord by building this altar for yourselves! You are no longer following him! 17 (B)Remember our sin at Peor, when the Lord punished his own people with an epidemic? We are still suffering because of that. Wasn't that sin enough? 18 Are you going to refuse to follow him now? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with everyone in Israel tomorrow. 19 Now then, if your land is not fit to worship in, come over into the Lord's land, where his Tent is. Claim some land among us. But don't rebel against the Lord or make rebels out of us by building an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God. 20 (C)Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about the things condemned to destruction; the whole community of Israel was punished for that. Achan was not the only one who died because of his sin.”
11 You must do this, because you know that the time has come for you to wake up from your sleep. For the moment when we will be saved is closer now than it was when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light. 13 Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day—no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy. 14 But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.