Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 But You, Yahweh my Lord,
deal kindly with me because of Your name;(A)
deliver me because of the goodness of Your faithful love.(B)
22 For I am afflicted and needy;(C)
my heart is wounded within me.(D)
23 I fade away like a lengthening shadow;(E)
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting,
and my body is emaciated.[a](F)
25 I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers;[b]
when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.(G)
26 Help me, Lord my God;
save me according to Your faithful love(H)
27 so they may know that this is Your hand
and that You, Lord, have done it.(I)
28 Though they curse, You will bless.
When they rise up, they will be put to shame,
but Your servant will rejoice.(J)
29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace;
they will wear their shame like a cloak.(K)
30 I will fervently thank the Lord with my mouth;
I will praise Him in the presence of many.(L)
31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy
to save him from those who would condemn him.(M)
18 “Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Don’t follow the statutes of your fathers, defile yourselves with their idols, or keep their ordinances.(A) 19 I am Yahweh your God. Follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them.(B) 20 Keep My Sabbaths holy,(C) and they will be a sign between Me and you, so you may know that I am Yahweh your God.
21 “But the children rebelled against Me.(D) They did not follow My statutes or carefully keep My ordinances—the person who does them will live by them. They also profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them and exhausting My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld My hand and acted because of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I brought them out. 23 However, I swore[a] to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.(E) 24 For they did not practice My ordinances but rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed(F) on their fathers’ idols. 25 I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances(G) they could not live by. 26 When they made every firstborn pass through the fire,(H) I defiled them through their gifts in order to devastate them so they would know that I am Yahweh.(I)
27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by(J) committing treachery against Me: 28 When I brought them into the land that I swore[b] to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree,(K) they offered their sacrifices and presented their offensive offerings there. They also sent up their pleasing aromas and poured out their drink offerings there. 29 So I asked them: What is this high place you are going to? And it is called High Place to this day.
30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your fathers did,(L) and prostituting yourselves with their detestable things? 31 When you offer your gifts, making your children pass through the fire,(M) you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, house of Israel? As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“I will not be consulted by you!
Israel’s Restoration
32 “When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of other countries, worshiping wood and stone,’(N) what you have in mind will never happen.(O)
The Letter to Philadelphia
7 “Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:
“The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens(A) says: 8 I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. 9 Take note! I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—note this—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.(B) 10 Because you have kept My command to endure,[a] I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have,(C) so that no one takes your crown. 12 The victor: I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God—and My new name.(D)
13 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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