Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
169 Let my cry for help come into your presence, O Yahweh.
Help me understand as you promised.
170 Let my plea for mercy come into your presence.
Rescue me as you promised.
171 Let my lips pour out praise
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing about your promise
because all your commandments are fair.
173 Let your hand help me
because I have chosen to follow your guiding principles.
174 I have longed for you to save me, O Yahweh,
and your teachings make me happy.
175 Let my soul have new life so that it can praise you.
Let your regulations help me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost lamb.
Search for me,
because I have never forgotten your commandments.
A Prophet Announces God’s Judgment
13 A man of Elohim from Judah had come to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer a sacrifice. 2 By a command of Yahweh, this man condemned the altar. “Altar, altar! This is what Yahweh says: There will be a son born in David’s family line. His name will be Josiah. Here on you Josiah will sacrifice the priests from the illegal worship sites who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.”
3 That day the man of God also gave them a miraculous sign, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh will give you: You will see the altar torn apart. The ashes on it will be poured on the ground.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard the man of Elohim condemning the altar in Bethel, he pointed to the man across the altar. “Arrest him,” he said. But the arm that he used to point to the man of God was paralyzed so that he couldn’t pull it back. 5 The altar was torn apart, and the ashes from the altar were poured on the ground. This was the miraculous sign the man of Elohim performed at Yahweh’s command.
6 Then the king asked the man of Elohim, “Please make an appeal to Yahweh your Elohim, and pray for me so that I can use my arm again.” So the man of Elohim made an appeal to Yahweh, and the king was able to use his arm again, as he had earlier.
7 The king told the man of Elohim, “Come home with me; have something to eat and drink, and I will give you a gift.”
8 The man of Elohim told the king, “Even if you gave me half of your palace, I would never go with you to eat or drink there. 9 When Yahweh spoke to me, he commanded me not to eat or drink or go back on the same road I took.” 10 So the man of Elohim left on another road and didn’t go back on the road he had taken to Bethel.
9 What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, 10 as Scripture says,
“Not one person has God’s approval.
11 No one understands.
No one searches for God.
12 Everyone has turned away.
Together they have become rotten to the core.
No one does anything good,
not even one person.
13 Their throats are open graves.
Their tongues practice deception.
Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes.
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment.
15 They run quickly to murder people.
16 There is ruin and suffering wherever they go.
17 They have not learned to live in peace.
18 They are not terrified of God.”
19 We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God. 20 Not one person can have God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.