Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Mem: Sweeter Than Honey
97 How I love your laws!
I meditate on them all day long.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
because it is always with me.
99 I have more wisdom than all my teachers,
because your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I guard your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet off every evil path
in order to keep your words.
102 I have not turned from your judgments,
because you yourself have instructed me.
103 How sweet are your sayings to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From your precepts I gain understanding.
Therefore, I hate every false road.
16 But they and our ancestors acted arrogantly.
They became stiff-necked and would not listen to your commands.
17 So they refused to listen,
and they did not remember your wonders that you did for them.
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
in order to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But you are a God who is forgiving, merciful, and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
So you did not abandon them.
18 However, they made a cast metal calf for themselves and said,
“This is your god who brought you up from Egypt,”
and they committed great blasphemies.
19 But in your abundant compassion, you did not abandon them in the wilderness.
By day the pillar of cloud did not depart from above them
or stop leading them on their way.
By night the pillar of fire did not stop lighting the way that they should go.
20 You gave them your good Spirit to give them insight.
So you did not withhold your manna from their mouth,
and you gave them water for their thirst.
21 You sustained them for forty years in the wilderness.
They did not lack anything.
Their clothing did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples,
and you divided their whole territory among them.
They took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon,
and also the land of Og, the king of Bashan.
23 You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven.
You brought them to the land that you had told their ancestors to enter and possess.
24 Their children came and possessed the land,
and you subdued the Canaanite inhabitants of the land before them.
You gave their kings and the peoples of the land into their hand
to do with them as they pleased.
25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land.
They possessed houses full of all kinds of good things,
hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive orchards,
and fruit trees in abundance.
They ate and were satisfied.
They became fat and delighted in your great goodness.
26 But they rebelled and revolted against you and rejected your Law.
They killed your prophets, who had testified against them
so that they would return to you.
They also committed great blasphemies.
27 So you delivered them into the hand of their oppressors,
who made them suffer.
But when they cried to you at the time of their distress,
you heard from heaven,
and according to your great compassion, you gave them deliverers,
who saved them from the hand of their oppressors.
28 However, as soon as they had rest, they returned to doing evil before you.
So you abandoned them into the hand of their enemies,
and they ruled over them.
Then they turned and cried out to you.
You heard from heaven,
and you rescued them many times, according to your great compassion.
29 You testified against them to lead them back to your law,
but they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commands.
They sinned against your judgments
by which a man will live when he obeys them.
They turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked, and would not listen.
30 You were patient with them for many years,
and you testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets.
But they would not listen,
so you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in your great compassion you did not put an end to them.
You did not abandon them,
because you are a gracious and compassionate God.
Final Comments
21 Tychicus, our dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very reason, that you may know how we are, and that he may comfort your hearts. 23 Peace to the brothers,[a] and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who have an undying[b] love for our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.[c]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.