Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 But you, Lord, my Lord,
deal kindly with me for your name’s sake;(A)
because your faithful love is good, rescue me.(B)
22 For I am suffering 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 the Lord 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 the Lord 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 for the sake 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 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 sacrificed every firstborn in the fire,[a](H) I defiled them through their gifts in order to devastate them so they would know that I am the Lord.’(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 ancestors blasphemed me by(J) committing treachery against me: 28 When I brought them into the land that I swore 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 still called Bamah[b] today.’
30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your ancestors did,(L) and prostituting yourselves with their abhorrent things? 31 When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your children in the fire,[c](M) you still continue to defile yourselves with all your idols today. So should I let you inquire of me, house of Israel? As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I will not let you inquire of me!
Israel’s Restoration
32 “‘When you say, “Let’s be like the nations, like the clans of other countries, serving 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: Thus says the Holy One, the true one,(A) the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens: (B) 8 I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.(C) 9 Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down at your feet,(D) and they will know that I have loved you.(E) 10 Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing(F) that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.(G) 11 I am coming soon.(H) Hold on to what you have,(I) so that no one takes your crown.(J)
12 “The one who conquers I will make a pillar(K) in the temple 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,(L) which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.(M)
13 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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