Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 51
For the choir director; a psalm by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after David’s adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have pity on me, O Elohim, in keeping with your mercy.
In keeping with your unlimited compassion, wipe out my rebellious acts.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 I admit that I am rebellious.
My sin is always in front of me.
4 I have sinned against you, especially you.
I have done what you consider evil.
So you hand down justice when you speak,
and you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty.
I was a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 Yet, you desire truth and sincerity.[a]
Deep down inside me you teach me wisdom.
7 Purify me from sin with hyssop,[b] and I will be clean.[c]
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness.
Let the bones that you have broken dance.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all that I have done wrong.
10 Create a clean heart in me, O Elohim,
and renew a faithful spirit within me.
11 Do not force me away from your presence,
and do not take Ruach Qodesh from me.
12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me,
and provide me with a spirit of willing obedience.
13 Then I will teach your ways to those who are rebellious,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder,
O Elohim, my savior.
Let my tongue sing joyfully about your righteousness!
15 O Adonay, open my lips,
and my mouth will tell about your praise.
16 You are not happy with any sacrifice.
Otherwise, I would offer one to you.
You are not pleased with burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifice pleasing to Elohim is a broken spirit.
O Elohim, you do not despise a broken and sorrowful heart.
18 Favor Zion with your goodness.
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Young bulls will be offered on your altar.
58 You might not faithfully obey every word of the teachings that are written in this book. You might not fear this glorious and awe-inspiring name: Yahweh your Elohim. 59 If so, Yahweh will strike you and your descendants with unimaginable plagues. They will be terrible and continuing plagues and severe and lingering diseases. 60 He will again bring all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 Yahweh will also bring you every kind of sickness and plague not written in this Book of Teachings. They will continue until you’re dead. 62 At one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky. But only a few of you will be left, because you didn’t obey Yahweh your Elohim. 63 At one time Yahweh was more than glad to make you prosperous and numerous. Now Yahweh will be more than glad to destroy you and wipe you out. You will be torn out of the land you’re about to enter and take possession of.
64 Then Yahweh will scatter you among all the people of the world, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve gods made of wood and stone that neither you nor your ancestors ever knew. 65 Among those nations you will find no peace, no place to call your own. There Yahweh will give you an unsettled mind, failing eyesight, and despair. 66 Your life will always be hanging by a thread. You will live in terror day and night. You will never feel sure of your life. 67 In the morning you’ll say, “If only it were evening!” And in the evening you’ll say, “If only it were morning!” You’ll talk this way because of the things that will terrify you and because of the things you’ll see. 68 Yahweh will bring you back to Egypt in ships[a] on a journey that I said you would never take again. There you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.
Israel’s Past, Present, and Future
29 [b]These are the terms of the promise[c] that Yahweh commanded Moses to give to the Israelites in Moab. This was in addition to the promise Yahweh gave them at Mount Horeb.
17 “When the time that God had promised to Abraham had almost come, the number of our people in Egypt had grown very large. 18 Then a different king, who knew nothing about Joseph, began to rule in Egypt. 19 This king was shrewd in the way he took advantage of our people. He mistreated our ancestors. He made them abandon their newborn babies outdoors, where they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful child. His parents took care of him for three months. 21 When Moses was abandoned outdoors, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her son. 22 So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man in what he said and did. 23 When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 When he saw an Israelite man being treated unfairly by an Egyptian, he defended the Israelite. He took revenge by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought his own people would understand that God was going to use him to give them freedom. But they didn’t understand. 26 The next day Moses saw two Israelites fighting, and he tried to make peace between them. He said to them, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you treating each other unfairly?’
27 “But one of the men pushed Moses aside. He asked Moses, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 After he said that, Moses quickly left Egypt and lived in Midian as a foreigner. In Midian he fathered two sons.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.