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.
Trouble for the Philistines
5 After the Philistines [4:1] had captured the Ark of God [4:3], they took it from Ebenezer [4:1] to Ashdod [C one of the five chief cities of the Philistines]. 2 They carried it into Dagon’s [C a major Philistine god, perhaps a storm god] temple and put it next to Dagon [C to symbolize that Israel’s god was now on the side of Dagon]. 3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they found that Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord [C as if in worship]. So they put Dagon back in his place. 4 The next morning when they rose, they again found Dagon fallen face-down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. His head and hands had broken off and were lying ·in the doorway [on the threshold; C the treatment given corpses of enemy soldiers]. Only his ·body [trunk] was ·still in one piece [intact; left to him]. 5 So, ·even today [to this day], Dagon’s priests and others who enter his temple at Ashdod refuse to step on the ·doorsill [threshold of Dagon].
6 The ·Lord was hard [L hand of the Lord was heavy] on the people of Ashdod and ·their neighbors [its environs]. He ·caused them to suffer [ravaged/terrified them] and ·gave them [struck/afflicted them with] ·growths on their skin [tumors; or hemorrhoids]. 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The Ark of the God of Israel can’t stay with us. ·God is punishing [L His hand is heavy on] us and Dagon our god.” 8 The people of Ashdod called all five Philistine ·kings [rulers] together and asked them, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers answered, “Move the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath [C another major city of the Philistines to the southeast of Ashdod].” So the Philistines moved it to Gath.
9 But after they moved it to Gath, there was a great panic. The ·Lord was hard [L hand of the Lord was heavy] on that city also, and he ·gave [struck; afflicted] both old and young people in Gath ·growths on their skin [with an outbreak of tumors/or hemorrhoids]. 10 Then the Philistines sent the Ark of God to Ekron [C a third major city of the Philistines north of Gath].
But when it came into Ekron, the people of Ekron ·yelled [cried out], “Why are you bringing the Ark of the God of Israel to our city? Do you want to kill us and our people?” 11 So they called all the ·kings [rulers] of the Philistines together and said, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own place ·before it kills [or it will kill] us and our people!” All the people in the city were struck with ·terror [deadly panic] because ·God was so hard [L God’s hand was so heavy] on them there. 12 The people who did not die were ·troubled [struck; afflicted] with ·growths on their skin [tumors; or hemorrhoids]. So the people of Ekron ·cried [wailed] loudly to heaven.
32 Remember those ·days in the past [or early days of your faith] when you first ·learned the truth [L were enlightened]. You ·remained strong [endured; persevered] through a hard struggle with many sufferings. 33 Sometimes you were ·hurt and attacked before crowds of people [L exposed to public shame/ridicule and persecution/oppression], and sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. 34 You ·helped [had sympathy for; or suffered with] the prisoners [C probably Christians imprisoned for their faith]. You even had joy when ·all that you owned [your property] was ·taken from you [seized; confiscated], because you knew you had ·something [L a possession; property] better and more lasting.
35 So do not ·lose [throw away] ·the courage you had in the past [or your confident trust in God; or your boldness], which has a great reward. 36 You must ·hold on [persevere; endure], so you can do ·what God wants [the will of God] and receive what he has promised. 37 For in a very short time [Is. 26:20],
“The One who is coming will come
and will not delay.
38 ·Those who are right with me [L My righteous one]
will live by faith.
But if they ·turn back with fear [shrink back],
·I [L My soul] will not be pleased with them [Hab. 2:3–4].”
39 But we are not those who ·turn back [shrink back] and are ·lost [destroyed]. We are people who have faith ·and are saved [leading to the possession/ preservation of life/the soul].
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.