Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 43
A Plea for Vindication
1 Judge me justly, O God,
and plead my case against an ungodly nation.
Rescue me from the deceitful, wicked man.
2 I know you are God, my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go around mourning
because of oppression by the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth.
Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and gladness.
Then I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Refrain
5 Why are you so depressed, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will again praise him
for my salvation from the face of my God.[a]
The Lord’s Warning to Eli
27 A man of God came to Eli and told him this:
This is what the Lord says. Didn’t I clearly reveal myself to the house of your father[a] when they were in Egypt, subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose him to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the special vest before me. I also gave the house of your father all the food offerings[b] from the people of Israel. 29 Why do you all kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded for my dwelling place?[c] Why do you, Eli, honor your sons more than me? Why do you fatten yourselves with the best of all the offerings from my people Israel?
30 Therefore this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel: I stated solemnly that your house[d] and the house of your father would walk before me forever. But now the Lord declares, “This will never be! Yes, I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed.” 31 Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will never be an old man in your house. 32 You will see the distress of the dwelling place. Even when things are good for Israel, there shall never be an old man in your house. 33 Any man of yours whom I do not cut off from my altar will only wear out your eyes with tears and your heart with grief, and all the future generations of your house will die before they reach old age.[e]
34 This will be the sign for you that will come on your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: In one day they will both die. 35 I will raise up a faithful priest for myself, one who will act according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build an enduring house for him, and he will walk before my anointed one forever. 36 Then anyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to the faithful priest to receive a piece of silver and a loaf of bread. The one who is left will say, “Please appoint me to one of the priests’ offices, so that I can eat a scrap of bread.”
Paul Addresses the Jew Directly
17 Now if you call yourself a Jew, and you find your comfort in the law, and you boast in God; 18 and if you know his will, and you approve the things that really matter, since you are instructed by the law; 19 and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, and a teacher of infants (since you have the essence of knowledge and truth in the law)— 21 now then, you, the one who is teaching someone else, do you fail to teach yourself? You who preach, “Do not steal,” do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law bring shame on God by breaking the law. 24 Yes, as it is written, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”[a]
Does Circumcision Make a Difference?
25 Indeed, circumcision has value if you observe the law. On the other hand, if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So, if an uncircumcised person keeps the righteous requirements of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be credited to him as circumcision? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically, but who fulfills the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker, even though you have the written law and circumcision.
28 In fact, a Jew who is merely one outwardly is not really a Jew, and circumcision that is only outward in the flesh is not really circumcision. 29 Rather, a real Jew is one on the inside, and his circumcision is of the heart—a spiritual circumcision, not one based on carrying out the letter of the law. That person’s praise does not come from people but from God.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.