Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The (A)eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears are toward their cry for help.
16 The (B)face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To (C)eliminate the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous (D)cry out, and the Lord hears
And rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord (E)is near to the (F)brokenhearted
And saves those who are [a](G)crushed in spirit.
19 (H)The (I)afflictions of the righteous are many,
But the Lord (J)rescues him from them all.
20 He protects all his bones,
(K)Not one of them is broken.
21 (L)Evil will bring death to the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
22 The Lord (M)redeems the souls of His servants,
And none of those who (N)take refuge in Him will suffer for their guilt.
21 Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the [a]families of Israel. 22 “The (A)Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! (B)He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord, do not save us this day! 23 If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to (C)offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself [b]demand it. 24 But truly we have done this out of concern, [c]for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our [d]sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’
26 “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s [e]build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; 27 rather, it shall be (D)a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to (E)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ 28 Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.”’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by (F)building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His [f]tabernacle.”
30 So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, that is, the heads of the [g]families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the (G)Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”
32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel (H)blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. 34 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad (I)called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”
5 And He said to them, “[a]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children [b]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet (A)because of his [c]shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, [d](B)ask, and it will be given to you; [e]seek, and you will find; [f]knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 11 Now [g]which one of you fathers will his son ask for a [h]fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? 12 Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? 13 So (C)if you, despite being [i]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will [j]your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.