Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the music director. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the (B)glory of His name;
Make His (C)praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How (D)awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will (E)pretend to obey You.
4 (F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
Let’s (L)rejoice there, in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
The rebellious shall not (O)exalt themselves! Selah
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah
21 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (C)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord [a]dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For (D)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and (E)he erected altars for Baal and made an [b]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he (F)worshiped all the heavenly [c]lights and served them. 4 And (G)he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “(H)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 He built altars for (I)all the heavenly [d]lights in (J)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. 6 And (K)he made his son pass through the fire, (L)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then (M)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “(N)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I (O)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh (P)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.
The King’s Idolatries Rebuked
10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “(Q)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, (R)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and (S)has also misled Judah into sin (T)with his idols, 12 therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, (U)both of his ears will ring. 13 (V)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”
The Conflict of Serving Two Masters
14 For we know that the Law is (A)spiritual, but I am (B)fleshly, (C)sold [a](D)into bondage to sin. 15 For (E)I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing (F)what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with (G)the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, (H)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my (I)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For (J)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, (K)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then (L)the [b]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God [c]in (M)the inner person, 23 but I see (N)a different law in [d]the parts of my body waging war against the (O)law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [e]of (P)the law of sin, the law which is in [f]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [g](Q)the body of this (R)death? 25 (S)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh (T)the law of sin.
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