Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶⁹ Let my mournful cry and supplication come [near] before You, O Lord; give me understanding (discernment and comprehension) according to Your word [of assurance and promise].

¹⁷⁰ Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word!

¹⁷¹ My lips shall pour forth praise [with thanksgiving and renewed trust] when You teach me Your statutes.

¹⁷² My tongue shall sing [praise for the fulfillment] of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteous.

¹⁷³ Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.

¹⁷⁴ I have longed for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.

¹⁷⁵ Let me live that I may praise You, and let Your decrees help me.

¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek, inquire for, and demand Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.^(A)

13 And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

² The man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Behold, the altar shall be split and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. [Fulfilled in II Kings 23:15, 16.]

⁴ When King Jeroboam heard the words the man of God cried against the altar in Bethel, he thrust out his hand, saying, Lay hold on him! And his hand which he put forth against him dried up, so that he could not draw it to him again.

⁵ The altar also was split and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

⁶ And the king said to the man of God, Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

⁷ And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.

⁸ And the man of God said to the king, If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water in this place.

⁹ For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, You shall eat no bread or drink water or return by the way you came.

¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

⁹ Well then, are we [Jews] superior and better off than they? No, not at all. We have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), are under sin [held down by and subject to its power and control].

¹⁰ As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one.^(A)

¹¹ No one understands [no one intelligently discerns or comprehends]; no one seeks out God.^(B)

¹² All have turned aside; together they have gone wrong and have become unprofitable and worthless; no one does right, not even one!

¹³ Their throat is a yawning grave; they use their tongues to deceive (to mislead and to deal treacherously). The venom of asps is beneath their lips.^(C)

¹⁴ Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.^(D)

¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood.

¹⁶ Destruction [as it dashes them to pieces] and misery mark their ways.

¹⁷ And they have no experience of the way of peace [they know nothing about peace, for a peaceful way they do not even recognize].^(E)

¹⁸ There is no [reverential] fear of God before their eyes.^(F)

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the murmurs and excuses of] every mouth may be hushed and all the world may be held accountable to God.

²⁰ For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [^[a]not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character].