Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry for help.(A)
16 The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil,(B)
to remove[a] all memory of them from the earth.(C)
17 The righteous[b] cry out, and the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.(D)
18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.(E)
19 One who is righteous has many adversities,
but the Lord rescues him from them all.(F)
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.(G)
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be punished.(H)
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants,
and all who take refuge in him will not be punished.(I)
21 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the Israelite clans, 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord He knows,(B) and may Israel also know. Do not spare us today, if it was in rebellion or treachery against the Lord 23 that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from him. May the Lord himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it. 24 We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.
26 “Therefore we said: Let’s take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. 27 Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you,(C) and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings.(D) Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’ 28 We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you. 29 We would never ever rebel against the Lord or turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God, which is in front of his tabernacle.”
Conflict Resolved
30 When the priest Phinehas and the community leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against him.(E) As a result, you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s power.”
32 Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report to them. 33 The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they blessed God.(F) They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. 34 So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It[b] is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
Ask, Search, Knock
5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you[a] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness,[b] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.(A)
9 “So(B) I say to you, ask,(C) and it will be given to you. Seek,(D) and you will find. Knock,(E) and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son[c] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil,(F) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father(G) give the Holy Spirit(H) to those who ask him?”
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.