Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of Ethan the Ezrahite [C a wise man; 1 Kin. 4:31].
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s ·love [loyalty];
I will ·tell of [L make known with my mouth] his ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·from now on [for generations].
2 I will say, “Your ·love [loyalty] ·continues [L is built] forever;
your ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·goes on and on [is established] like the ·sky [heavens].”
3 You said, “I ·made an agreement [L cut a covenant/treaty] with the man of my choice;
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will ·make your family continue [L establish your seed] forever.
·Your kingdom will go on and on [L I will build your throne for generations; 2; 72; 78:70–72; 2 Sam. 7:11–16; 1 Chr. 17:10–14].’” ·
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your ·miracles [wonderful acts]
and for your ·loyalty [faithfulness] in the ·meeting [assembly] of your holy ones.
6 Who in ·heaven [the skies] ·is equal to [ranks with] the Lord?
None of the ·angels [gods; divine council/assembly; L sons of God; 82:1] is like the Lord.
7 When the ·holy ones [L council of holy ones] meet, it is God they fear.
He is more ·frightening [awesome] than all who surround him.
8 Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely ·trustworthy [faithful].
9 You rule the ·mighty [raging; surging] sea
and ·calm [still] the ·stormy [rising] waves.
10 You crushed the Rahab [C a sea monster, representing chaos (Job 26:12; Is. 51:9) and in some contexts Egypt defeated at the Sea (87:4; Is. 30:7; Ezek. 29:3; 32:3)] like a corpse;
by your ·power [L strong arm] you scattered your enemies.
11 The ·skies [heavens] and the earth belong to you.
You ·made [founded] the world and ·everything in it [L its fullness].
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon [C majestic mountains] sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your ·kingdom [L throne] is ·built [established] on ·what is right and fair [righteousness and judgment/justice].
·Love [Loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] are ·in all you do [L before your face].
15 ·Happy [Blessed] are the people who know how to ·praise [shout to] you.
Lord, let them ·live [L walk] in the light of your ·presence [L face].
16 In your name they rejoice
and continually ·praise [exalt] your ·goodness [righteousness].
17 You are their ·glorious [beautiful] strength,
and in your ·kindness [favor] you ·honor our king [L lift up our horn; C symbol of power and here of the king].
18 Our shield [C the king] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
The Good Branch
14 The Lord says, “The ·time is [L days are] coming when I will do the good thing I promised to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 In those days and at that time,
I will make a ·good [righteous] branch sprout from David’s family [Is. 11:1; Zech. 3:8; 6:12].
He will do ·what is fair [justice] and ·right [righteousness] in the land.
16 ·At that time [L In those days] Judah will be ·saved [rescued],
and the people of Jerusalem will live ·in safety [with confidence].
·The branch will be named [L This one will be called by this]:
The Lord ·Does What Is Right [Our Righteousness].”
17 This is what the Lord says: “·Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne of the family [L David will never lack a man who will sit on the throne of the house] of Israel [2 Sam. 7:11–16]. 18 And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. They will always stand before me to offer burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1] and sacrifices to me [Num. 25:13].”
19 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 20 “This is what the Lord says: I have an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with day and night that they will always come at the right times [C the covenant with Noah; Gen. 9:8–17]. If you could ·change [L break] that ·agreement [covenant; treaty], 21 only then could you ·change [L break] my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with David and Levi. Only then would my servant David not have a descendant ruling on his throne. And only then would the family of Levi not be serving me [C in the Temple]. 22 But I will give many ·descendants [L seed] to my servant David and to the family group of Levi who serve me. They will be as many as the stars in the sky that no one can count. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore that no one can measure [Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4].”
23 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 24 “Have you [C Jeremiah] heard what the people are saying? They say: ‘The Lord ·turned away from [rejected] the two ·families [kingdoms; C of Israel and Judah] that he chose.’ Now they [L hold my people in such contempt that they] don’t think of them as a nation anymore!”
25 This is what the Lord says: “If I had not made my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with day and night [v. 20], and if I had not made the ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] for the ·sky [heavens] and earth, 26 only then would I ·turn away from [reject] Jacob’s ·descendants [L seed]. And only then would I not let the ·descendants [L seed] of David my servant rule over the ·descendants [L seed] of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will be ·kind [compassionate] to them and ·cause good things to happen to them [restore their fortunes] again.”
Who Is the Trusted Servant?
41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this ·story to [parable for] us or ·to [for] all people?”
42 The Lord said, “Who is the ·trusted [faithful] and ·wise [sensible] ·servant [household manager] that the ·master [lord] ·trusts [L puts in charge of the household servants] to give ·the other servants [L them] their ·food [food allowance; daily provisions] at the right time? 43 That ·servant [slave] will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when the master comes and finds him doing his work. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will ·choose that servant to take care [put him in charge] of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the ·servant [slave] thinks to himself, ‘My master ·will not come back soon [is delayed in coming],’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master [L of that servant/slave] will come [L on a day] when that servant is not ready and [L at an hour when he] is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and ·send him away to be [assign/appoint him a place] with the ·others who don’t obey [unfaithful; unbelievers; C a metaphorical reference to Jesus, the ultimate Lord and Master, returning to judge his servants].
47 “The ·servant [slave] who knows what his master wants but is not ·ready [prepared], or who does not do what the master wants, will ·be beaten with many blows [beaten severely]! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten ·with few blows [lightly; C a metaphor for judgment]. From everyone who has been given much, much will be ·demanded [required]. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.
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