Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
82 God ·is in charge of the great meeting [L takes his place/presides in the great assembly/or the assembly of the gods/divine council; C the angels (powers and authorities; Eph. 6:12) are here called “gods”];
he judges among the “gods” [John 10:35–36].
2 He says, “How long will you ·defend evil people [or judge unfairly]?
How long will you show ·greater kindness [favor; preference] to the wicked? ·
3 ·Defend [Judge] the ·weak [or poor] and the orphans;
·defend the rights of [vindicate] the poor and ·suffering [needy].
4 ·Save [Rescue] the ·weak [or poor] and helpless;
·free [protect] them from the ·power [L hand] of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the ·world is falling apart [L foundations of the earth are tottering].
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the ·leaders [princes; C God will punish these evil angels].”
8 God, ·come [rise up] and judge the earth,
because you ·own [inherit] all the nations.
The Sin of Achan
7 But the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·did not obey the Lord [L acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; 6:17]. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan. (He was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, who was the son of Zerah.) Because Achan kept some of the ·things that were to be given to the Lord [L devoted things], the ·Lord became very angry [L Lord’s anger burned] at the Israelites.
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you down on your face? 11 The Israelites have sinned; they have broken the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] I commanded them to obey. They took some of the ·things I commanded them to destroy [devoted things]. They have stolen and lied and have ·taken those things for themselves [L put them among their own belongings]. 12 That is why the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] cannot ·face [stand before] their enemies. They ·turn away from the fight and run [fled/turned their backs before their enemies], because I have ·commanded that they be destroyed [devoted them for destruction]. I will not ·help [L be with] you anymore unless you destroy ·everything as I commanded [the things devoted for destruction from among] you.
13 “Now go! ·Make the people holy [Consecrate the people]. Tell them, ‘·Set yourselves apart to the Lord [Consecrate yourselves] for tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, says ·some of you are keeping things he commanded you to destroy [L there are devoted things among you, Israel!]. You will never ·defeat [L stand before] your enemies until you ·throw away those things [L remove the devoted things from among you].
14 “‘Tomorrow morning you must be present with your tribes. The Lord will choose one tribe to stand alone before him. Then the Lord will choose ·one family group [clan] from that tribe to stand before him. Then the Lord will choose one family from that ·family group [clan] to stand before him, person by person. 15 The one who is ·keeping what should have been destroyed [L caught with the devoted things] will himself be destroyed by fire. Everything ·he owns [that is his] will be destroyed with him. He has broken the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the Lord and has done a disgraceful thing ·among the people of [L in] Israel!’”
16 Early the next morning Joshua led all of Israel to present themselves in their tribes, and the Lord chose the tribe of Judah. 17 So the ·family groups [clans] of Judah presented themselves, and the Lord then chose the ·family group [clan] of Zerah. When all the ·families [clan] of Zerah presented themselves, the family of Zabdi was chosen. 18 And Joshua told all the men in that family to present themselves. The Lord chose Achan son of Carmi. (Carmi was the son of Zabdi, who was the son of Zerah.)
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ·tell the truth. Confess to the Lord, the God of Israel [L Give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him; C a solemn charge to tell the truth and confess his sins to God]. Tell me what you did, and don’t try to hide anything from me.”
20 Achan answered, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: 21 Among the things I saw was a beautiful ·coat [robe; cloak] from ·Babylonia [L Shinar] and about ·five pounds [L two hundred shekels] of silver and ·more than one and one-fourth pounds of gold [L a gold bar weighing fifty shekels]. I wanted these things very much for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 So Joshua sent ·men [L messengers] who ran to the tent and ·found the things [T behold, it was] hidden there, with the silver underneath. 23 The men brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], and spread them out on the ground before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua and all the people led Achan son of Zerah to the Valley of ·Trouble [or Achor; C a Hebrew word meaning “trouble” or “disaster”]. They also took the silver, the coat, the gold bar, Achan’s sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he owned. 25 Joshua said, “·I don’t know why [L Why have…?] you caused so much trouble [C Hebrew achor] for us, but now the Lord will bring trouble [C Hebrew achor] to you.” Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died [Ex. 19:13; Lev. 24:23; Num. 15:36]. Then the people burned them. 26 They piled rocks over Achan’s body, and they are still there today. That is why it is called the Valley of ·Trouble [L Achor]. After this the Lord ·was no longer angry [L turned from his burning anger].
26 If we ·decide to [deliberately] go on sinning after we have learned the ·truth [L knowledge of the truth], there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is nothing but ·fear in waiting for the [a fearful/terrifying expectation/prospect of] judgment and the ·terrible [raging; furious] fire that will ·destroy [consume; devour] ·all those who live against God [the enemies of God; L those who oppose; the adversaries]. 28 Anyone who ·refused to obey [rejected; disregarded] the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the basis of the ·evidence [testimony] provided by two or three witnesses [Deut. 17:6]. 29 So how much worse punishment do you think is deserved by those who ·do not respect [trample on; show contempt for] the Son of God, who ·look at the blood of the agreement that made them holy as no different from others’ blood [L profane/treat as unholy/common the blood of the covenant], who insult the Spirit of God’s grace? 30 We know that God said, “·I will punish those who do wrong [T Vengeance is mine]; I will repay them [Deut. 32:35].” And he also said, “The Lord will judge his people [Deut. 32:36; Ps. 135:14].” 31 It is a ·terrible [dreadful; terrifying] thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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