Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good in your favor toward Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
burnt offering and whole burnt offering.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
10 “And then it will happen that when Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that he swore to your ancestors,[a] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to you large and fine cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all sorts of good things[b] that you did not fill, and hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, and you have eaten your fill,[c] 12 then take care for yourself, so that you do not forget Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt from the house of slavery.
13 “You shall fear Yahweh your God, and you shall serve him, and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods from the gods of the peoples who are all around you, 15 for Yahweh your God is a jealous god in your midst, so that the anger of Yahweh your God would be kindled,[d] and he would destroy you from the face of the earth. 16 You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and his legal provisions and his rules that he has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Yahweh, so that it shall go well[e] for you and so that you may go and you may take possession of the good land that Yahweh swore for your ancestors,[f] 19 by driving out all of your enemies before you,[g] just as Yahweh has promised.[h]
20 “When your child[i] asks you in the future, saying,[j] ‘What is the meaning of the legal provisions and the rules and the regulations that Yahweh our God commanded for you?’ 21 Then you shall say to your child,[k] ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand. 22 And Yahweh gave great and awesome signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and against his entire household in our presence.[l] 23 But he brought us out from there in order to bring us here to give us the land that he swore to our ancestors.[m] 24 And so Yahweh commanded us to observe all of these rules and to revere Yahweh our God for our benefit[n] all the days that we live,[o] as it is today.[p] 25 And it shall be righteousness for us if we diligently observe and do all of this commandment before[q] Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’
17 Pay back no one evil for evil. Take thought for what is good in the sight of all people. 18 If it is possible on your part, be at peace with all people. 19 Do not take revenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. 20 But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by[b] doing this, you will heap up coals of fire upon his head.”[c] 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Love Fulfills the Law
8 Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,”[a] and if there is any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software