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 Ark of God Is Sent Home
6 The Philistines kept the ·Ark of God [4:3] in their ·land [territory; country] seven months. 2 Then the Philistines [4:1] called for their priests and ·magicians [diviners] and said, “What should we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to send it back ·home [to its place]!”
3 They answered, “If you send back the Ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it back ·empty [without a gift]. ·You must give [Return it to him with] a ·penalty [guilt] offering. If you are then healed, you will know that it was ·because of the Ark that you had such trouble [L his hand that has been lifted from you].”
4 The Philistines asked, “What kind of ·penalty [guilt] offering should we send to ·Israel’s God [L him]?”
They answered, “Make five gold ·models [likenesses; images] of the ·growths on your skin [tumors] and five gold ·models [likenesses; images] of ·rats [or mice]. ·The number of ·models [likenesses; images] must match the number of Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords], because the same ·sickness [plague] has ·come on [struck; afflicted] you and your ·kings [rulers; lords]. 5 Make ·models [likenesses; images] of the ·growths [tumors] and the ·rats [or mice] that are ·ruining [destroying; ravaging] the ·country [land], and give ·honor [glory] to Israel’s God. Then maybe he will ·stop being so hard on [L lift his hand from] you, your gods, and your ·land [country]. 6 ·Don’t be stubborn [L Why do you harden your hearts…?] like the ·king [L Pharaoh] of Egypt and the Egyptians [Ex. 7:13; 8:15; 9:34]. After God ·punished them terribly [brought disaster on; or made fools of them], ·they let the Israelites leave Egypt [L did they not send the Israelites out, and they departed?].
7 “You must ·build [prepare] a new cart and get two cows that have just had calves. These must be cows that have never had yokes on their necks. Hitch the cows to the cart, and take the calves ·home, away from their mothers [away from them and put them in a pen]. 8 Put the Ark of the Lord [4:3] on the cart and the gold ·models [likenesses; objects] you are sending him for the ·penalty [guilt] offering in a ·box [chest] beside the Ark. Then send the cart ·straight on its way [to go its own way]. 9 Watch the cart. If it goes toward Beth Shemesh [C a town on the border with Philistia about 24 miles west of Jerusalem] in ·Israel’s own land [its own territory], [then] the Lord has ·given us this great sickness [brought this great disaster/harm on us]. But if it doesn’t, we will know that ·Israel’s God has not punished us [it was not God’s hand that struck us]. It just happened by chance.”
10 ·The Philistines did what the priests and magicians said [L The men did so]. They took two cows that had just had calves and hitched them to the cart, but they kept their calves ·at home [in a pen]. 11 They put the Ark of the Lord and the ·box [chest] with the gold rats and ·models [likenesses; images] of ·growths [tumors] on the cart. 12 Then the cows went straight toward Beth Shemesh. They stayed on the road, ·mooing [lowing] all the way, and did not turn right or left. The Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] followed the cows as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were ·harvesting [reaping] their wheat in the valley. When they ·looked up [L raised their eyes] and saw the Ark of the Lord, they were ·very happy [joyful to see it]. 14 The cart came to the field belonging to Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped near a large rock. The people of Beth Shemesh chopped up the wood of the cart. Then they ·sacrificed [offered] the cows as burnt offerings to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the Ark of the Lord and the ·box [chest] that had the gold ·models [likenesses; images], and they put both on the large rock. That day the people of Beth Shemesh offered whole burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 After the five Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] saw this, they went back to Ekron [5:10] the same day.
15 “You will see ‘·a blasphemous object that brings destruction [T the abomination of desolation; C a phrase taken from Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11, and originally referring to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 bc],’ which Daniel the prophet spoke about. ·It [or He] will be standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means [C probably a reference to the soon-to-occur destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70].) 16 “At that time, the people in Judea should ·run away [flee] to the mountains. 17 If people are on the roofs of their houses [C roofs in Palestine were flat and used as spare rooms and for storage], they must not go down to get anything out of their houses. 18 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their ·coats [cloaks]. 19 At that time, ·how terrible it will be for [L woe to] women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 20 Pray that it will not be ·winter [bad weather] or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, 21 because at that time there will be much ·trouble [distress; T tribulation]. There will be more ·trouble [distress; T tribulation]. than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again [Dan. 12:1]. 22 ·God has decided to make that terrible time short [L If those days had not been shortened (by God)…; C the passive verb implies God as subject]. Otherwise, no one would ·go on living [survive; L be saved]. But God will make that time short ·to help the people he has chosen [for the sake of the elect]. 23 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the ·Christ [Messiah]!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 24 False ·Christs [messiahs] and false prophets will ·come [appear; rise up] and perform great ·wonders [signs; miracles] and ·miracles [wonders; marvels]. They will try to ·fool [mislead; deceive] even the ·people God has chosen [elect], if that is possible. 25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.
26 “If people tell you, ‘[L Look,] ·the Christ [L he] is in the ·desert [wilderness],’ don’t go there. If they say, ‘[L Look,] he is ·in the inner room [or hiding here; in this secret place],’ don’t believe it. 27 When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], he will be like lightning flashing from the east to the west [C he will be seen by everyone].
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