Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 40[a]
Gratitude and Prayer for Help
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
A
2 Surely, I wait for the Lord;
who bends down to me and hears my cry,(A)
3 Draws me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
Sets my feet upon rock,
steadies my steps,
4 And puts a new song[b] in my mouth,(C)
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in fear
and they shall trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed the man who sets
his security in the Lord,
who turns not to the arrogant
or to those who stray after falsehood.(D)
6 You, yes you, O Lord, my God,
have done many wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.(E)
Should I wish to declare or tell them,
too many are they to recount.(F)
7 [c]Sacrifice and offering you do not want;(G)
you opened my ears.
Holocaust and sin-offering you do not request;
8 so I said, “See; I come
with an inscribed scroll written upon me.
9 I delight to do your will, my God;
your law is in my inner being!”(H)
10 When I sing of your righteousness
in a great assembly,
See, I do not restrain my lips;
as you, Lord, know.(I)
11 I do not conceal your righteousness
within my heart;
I speak of your loyalty and your salvation.
I do not hide your mercy or faithfulness from a great assembly.
Shebna and Eliakim
15 Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
Up, go to that official,
Shebna,[a] master of the palace,
16 [b]“What have you here? Whom have you here,
that you have hewn for yourself a tomb here,
Hewing a tomb on high,
carving a resting place in the rock?”
17 The Lord shall hurl you down headlong, mortal man!
He shall grip you firmly,
18 And roll you up and toss you like a ball
into a broad land.
There you will die, there with the chariots you glory in,
you disgrace to your master’s house!
19 I will thrust you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
20 On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim,[c] son of Hilkiah;(A)
21 I will clothe him with your robe,
gird him with your sash,
confer on him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.(B)
22 I will place the key[d] of the House of David on his shoulder;
what he opens, no one will shut,
what he shuts, no one will open.(C)
23 I will fix him as a peg in a firm place,
a seat of honor for his ancestral house;
24 On him shall hang all the glory of his ancestral house:[e]
descendants and offspring,
all the little dishes, from bowls to jugs.
25 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg fixed in a firm place shall give way, break off and fall, and the weight that hung on it shall be done away with; for the Lord has spoken.
II. Loyalty to the Gospel[a]
6 (A)I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you[b] by [the] grace [of Christ] for a different gospel 7 (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 (B)But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach [to you] a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed![c] 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed!
10 (C)Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.[d]
III. Paul’s Defense of His Gospel and His Authority[e]
His Call by Christ. 11 (D)Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.[f]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.