Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 89
The Covenant With David
Heading
A maskil by Ethan the Ezrahite.
Opening Praise
1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.
With my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
2 Yes, I have said, “Your mercy is built to last forever.
In the heavens you establish your faithfulness.”
The Statement of the Covenant
3 The Lord said,[a]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one.
I have sworn to David my servant.
4 I will establish your seed[b] forever, Interlude
and I will build your throne through all generations.”
God’s Power Upholds the Covenant
5 The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
also your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies can compare with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the sons of God?
7 God is revered in the council of the holy ones.
He is to be feared more than all who surround him.
8 O Lord God of Armies, who is like you?
You are mighty, O Lord,[c]
and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the majestic sea.
When its waves rise up, you quiet them.
10 You crushed Rahab[d] like one of the slain.
With your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also is the earth.
You founded the world and everything that fills it.
12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at your name.
13 Your arm works for you with power.
Your hand is strong. Your right hand is raised high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Mercy and truth are right in front of you.
The Security of God’s People
15 How blessed are the people who know the joyful cry.
Lord, they walk in the light from your face.
16 In your name they celebrate all day long.
In your righteousness they are lifted up.
17 For you are the beauty of their strength,
and by your favor you exalt our Horn.[e]
18 Indeed, our Shield belongs to the Lord,
our King to the Holy One of Israel.
Manasseh King of Judah
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the disgusting practices of the nations which the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. 3 He rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down. He erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He worshipped the whole army of the heavens[a] and served them. 4 He built altars in the House of the Lord, about which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem my Name will be forever.” 5 He built altars for the whole army of the heavens in the two courtyards of the House of the Lord.
6 He made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. He practiced fortune telling and sought omens and consulted mediums and spiritists. He greatly increased the evil deeds he did in the eyes of the Lord and provoked him to anger.
7 He placed the image of the carved idol that he had made in the House of God, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not make the feet of Israel wander again from the land which I assigned to their fathers, but only if they are conscientious to carry out everything I have commanded them, all of the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses.”
9 Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the people of Israel.
The Lord’s Discipline Leads to Repentance
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought the officials of the army of the king of Assyria against them. They led Manasseh captive with hooks. They bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
12 When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself deeply before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord responded to his prayer and heard his plea for mercy. He brought him back to Jerusalem into his own kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.
14 Afterward he built an outer wall for the City of David in the valley, from west of the Gihon Spring up to the entrance by the Fish Gate. He encircled Ophel with it and raised it to a very great height. He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the House of the Lord. He removed all the altars he had built on the mountain of the House of the Lord and in Jerusalem and threw them outside of the city. 16 He restored the altar of the Lord and offered sacrifices of fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. He commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
Faith
11 Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see. 2 For by this faith the ancients were commended in Scripture.[a]
3 By faith we know that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.
4 By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. By faith he was commended in Scripture as righteous; God testified favorably about his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up, so that he would not experience death, and he was not found because God took him away.[b] In fact, before he was taken away, he was commended in Scripture as one who “pleased God.”[c] 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. Indeed, it is necessary for the one who approaches God to believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things that had not been seen before, built an ark, in reverent fear, in order to save his family. By it he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.