Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 (A)The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 (B)The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
(C)To [a]cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and (D)the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 (E)The Lord is near (F)to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as [b]have a contrite spirit.
19 (G)Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
(H)But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
(I)Not one of them is broken.
21 (J)Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be [c]condemned.
22 The Lord (K)redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
21 Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the [a]divisions of Israel: 22 “The Lord (A)God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He (B)knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. 23 If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself (C)require an account. 24 But in fact we have done it [b]for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27 but that it may be (D)a [c]witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may (E)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.” ’ 28 Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, (F)to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”
30 Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the [d]divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is (G)among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”
32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel (H)blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34 The children of Reuben and the children of [e]Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”
A Friend Comes at Midnight
5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, (A)though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking(B)
9 (C)“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; (D)seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 (E)If a son asks for [a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give (F)good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.