Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
(A)My[a] precious life from the power of the dog.
21 (B)Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
(C)You have answered Me.
22 (D)I will declare Your name to (E)My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 (F)You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you [b]descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But (G)when He cried to Him, He heard.
Israel’s Irresponsible Leaders
9 (A)All you beasts of the field, come to devour,
All you beasts in the forest.
10 His watchmen are (B)blind,
They are all ignorant;
(C)They are all dumb dogs,
They cannot bark;
[a]Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11 Yes, they are (D)greedy[b] dogs
Which (E)never[c] have enough.
And they are shepherds
Who cannot understand;
They all look to their own way,
Every one for his own gain,
From his own territory.
12 “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,
And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating (F)drink;
(G)Tomorrow will be (H)as today,
And much more abundant.”
The Jews Guilty as the Gentiles
17 [a]Indeed (A)you are called a Jew, and (B)rest[b] on the law, (C)and make your boast in God, 18 and (D)know His will, and (E)approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and (F)are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, (G)having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 (H)You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, (I)do you rob temples? 23 You who (J)make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For (K)“the name of God is (L)blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
Circumcision of No Avail
25 (M)For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, (N)if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, (O)judge you who, even with your [c]written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 28 For (P)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew (Q)who is one inwardly; and (R)circumcision is that of the heart, (S)in the Spirit, not in the letter; (T)whose [d]praise is not from men but from God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.