Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord’s Covenant with David and Israel’s Afflictions.
A [a]Maskil of [b]Ethan [c]the Ezrahite.
89 I will (A)sing of the graciousness of the Lord forever;
To all generations I will (B)make Your (C)faithfulness known with my mouth.
2 For I have said, “(D)Graciousness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your (E)faithfulness.”
3 “I have made a covenant with (F)My chosen;
I have (G)sworn to My servant David,
4 I will establish your [d](H)descendants forever
And build up your (I)throne to all generations.” Selah
5 The (J)heavens will praise Your wonders, Lord;
Your faithfulness also (K)in the assembly of the (L)holy ones.
6 For (M)who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?
Who among the [e](N)sons of the mighty is like the Lord,
7 A God (O)greatly feared in the council of the (P)holy ones,
And (Q)awesome above all those who are around Him?
8 Lord God of armies, (R)who is like You, mighty [f]Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the surging of the sea;
When its waves rise, You (S)calm them.
10 You Yourself crushed [g](T)Rahab like one who is slain;
You (U)scattered Your enemies with [h]Your mighty arm.
11 The (V)heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The (W)world and [i]all it contains, You have established them.
12 The (X)north and the south, You have created them;
(Y)Tabor and (Z)Hermon (AA)shout for joy at Your name.
13 You have [j]a strong arm;
Your hand is mighty, Your (AB)right hand is exalted.
14 (AC)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
(AD)Mercy and [k]truth go before You.
15 Blessed are the people who know the [l](AE)joyful sound!
Lord, they walk in the (AF)light of Your face.
16 In (AG)Your name they rejoice all the day,
And by Your righteousness they are exalted.
17 For You are the glory of (AH)their strength,
And by Your favor [m]our (AI)horn is exalted.
18 For our (AJ)shield belongs to the Lord,
[n]And our king to the (AK)Holy One of Israel.
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah
33 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For (C)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; (D)he also set up altars for the Baals and made [a]Asherim, and he worshiped all the heavenly [b]lights and served them. 4 (E)He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be (F)in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built altars for all the heavenly [c]lights in (G)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. 6 (H)He also made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and (I)dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put (J)the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, “(K)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 will not remove the foot of Israel again from the land (L)which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will take care to do everything that I have commanded them according to all the Law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.” 9 So Manasseh encouraged Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked
10 So the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but (M)they paid no attention. 11 (N)Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, (O)bound him with bronze chains, and led him to Babylon. 12 When (P)he was in distress, he appeased the Lord his God and (Q)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 When he prayed to Him, (R)He was moved by him and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh (S)knew that the Lord alone is God.
14 Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of (T)Gihon, in the valley, up to the entrance of the (U)Fish Gate; and he encircled the (V)Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah. 15 He also (W)removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed (X)peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 However, (Y)the people still sacrificed on the high places, although only to the Lord their God.
The Triumphs of Faith
11 Now faith is the (A)certainty of things [a](B)hoped for, a [b]proof of (C)things not seen. 2 For by it the (D)people of old [c](E)gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the [d](F)world has been created (G)by the word of God so that what is seen (H)has not been made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith (I)Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was (J)attested to be righteous, God testifying [e]about his (K)gifts, and through [f]faith, though (L)he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith (M)Enoch was taken up so that he would not (N)see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for before he was taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who (O)comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him. 7 By faith (P)Noah, being (Q)warned by God about (R)things not yet seen, [g](S)in reverence (T)prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of (U)the righteousness which is according to faith.
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