Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous,
and his ears toward their cry for help.
16 The face of Yahweh is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 They[a] cry out and Yahweh hears
and delivers them from all of their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to those who are heartbroken
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the distresses of the righteous,
but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will incur guilt.
22 Yahweh redeems the life of his servants,
and none who take refuge in him will incur guilt.
21 And the descendants[a] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans[b] of Israel, 22 “Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if it was in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day 23 for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if it was to offer burnt offerings,[c] grain offerings,[d] or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. 24 But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, ‘In the future your children may say to our children, ‘What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel?[e] 25 Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants[f] of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.’ So your children may put an end to our children worshiping[g] Yahweh. 26 So we said, ‘Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings[h] or for sacrifices;[i] 27 instead, it is a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, “You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ 28 And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, ‘Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors[j] made, not for burnt offerings[k] or sacrifices;[l] rather, it is a witness between us and you.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings,[m] grain offerings,[n] or sacrifices,[o] instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.”
30 Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans[p] of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendants[q] of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and they were satisfied.[r] 31 Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants[s] of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the Israelites[t] from the hand of Yahweh.”
32 And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendants[u] of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the Israelites,[v] and they gave them their report.[w] 33 The report satisfied the Israelites;[x] they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendants[y] of Reuben and Gad were living.[z] 34 The descendants[aa] of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, “Because,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”
Ask, Seek, Knock
5 And he said to them, “Who of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I do not have anything to set before him.’ 7 And that one will answer from inside and[a] say, ‘Do not cause me trouble! The door has already been shut and my children are with me in bed! I am not able to get up to give you anything.’[b] 8 I tell you, even if he does not give him anything[c] after he[d] gets up because he is his friend, at any rate because of his impudence[e] he will get up and[f] give him whatever he needs.
9 And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 But what father from among you, if his[g] son will ask for a fish, instead of a fish will give him a snake? 12 Or also, if he will ask for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 Therefore if you, although you[h] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
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