Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord
A Maskil[a] of (A)Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 (B)I will sing of (C)the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your (D)faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, (E)“Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens (F)you will establish your (G)faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made (H)a covenant with my (I)chosen one;
I have (J)sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your (K)offspring forever,
and build your (L)throne for all generations.’” Selah
5 Let (M)the heavens praise your (N)wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of (O)the holy ones!
6 For (P)who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
(Q)Who among the heavenly beings[b] is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly (R)to be feared in the council of (S)the holy ones,
and awesome above all (T)who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
(U)who is mighty as you are, O (V)Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you (W)still them.
10 You (X)crushed (Y)Rahab like a carcass;
you (Z)scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 (AA)The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
(AB)the world and all that is in it, you have (AC)founded them.
12 (AD)The north and the south, you have created them;
(AE)Tabor and (AF)Hermon (AG)joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 (AH)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
(AI)steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know (AJ)the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in (AK)the light of your face,
16 who exult in your (AL)name all the day
and in your righteousness are (AM)exalted.
17 For you are (AN)the glory of their strength;
by your favor our (AO)horn is exalted.
18 For our (AP)shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to (AQ)the Holy One of Israel.
Manasseh Reigns in Judah
33 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to (B)the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places (C)that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made (D)Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, (E)“In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in (F)the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 (G)And he burned his sons as an offering (H)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and (I)used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with (J)mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And (K)the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, (L)I will put my name forever, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land (M)that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.
Manasseh's Repentance
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 (N)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and (O)bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God (P)and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and (Q)God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. (R)Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the city of David west of (S)Gihon, in the valley, and for the entrance into (T)the Fish Gate, and carried it around (U)Ophel, and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15 And (V)he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16 He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 (W)Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
By Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of (A)things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by (B)the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of (C)things that are visible.
4 By faith (D)Abel offered to God (E)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And (F)through his faith, though he died, he (G)still speaks. 5 By faith (H)Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God (I)must believe that he exists and (J)that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith (K)Noah, being warned by God concerning (L)events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of (M)the righteousness that comes by faith.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.