Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Happy Home
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
128 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] and ·obey him [L walk in his ways].
2 You will ·enjoy what you work for [L eat the labor of your hands],
and you will be ·blessed [happy] with ·good things [prosperity].
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine [C produce many children] in your house [Prov. 31:10–31].
Your children will be like olive branches [C bringing much good] around your table [Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10].
4 This is how the man who ·respects [fears] the Lord [Prov. 1:7]
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple];
may you ·enjoy [experience; L see] the ·good things [prosperity] of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
22 “So say to the ·people [L house] of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: [L house of] Israel, I am going to act, but not for your sake. I will do something to help my holy name, which you have ·dishonored [defiled; profaned; C ritually] among the nations where you went. 23 I will prove the holiness of my great name, which has been ·dishonored [defiled; profaned; C ritually] among the nations. You have ·dishonored [defiled; profaned; C ritually] it among these nations, but the nations will know that I am the Lord when I ·prove myself holy [vindicate my holiness] before their eyes, says the Lord God.
24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you out of all the lands and bring you back into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness [C ritual impurity] and your idols. 26 Also, I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new ·way of thinking [L spirit] inside you. I will ·take out [remove from you] ·the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies [L your heart of stone], and I will give you ·obedient hearts [L a heart] of flesh. 27 I will put my ·Spirit [or spirit] ·inside you [or among you; C the pronoun is plural] and ·help you [cause you to] ·live by [walk in] my ·rules [statutes] and carefully obey my ·laws [rules; judgments]. 28 You will live in the land I gave to your ·ancestors [fathers], and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 So I will save you from all your ·uncleanness [defilement; C ritual]. I will ·command [summon; call for] the grain to ·come and grow [multiply]; I will not ·allow a time of hunger to hurt [bring famine upon] you. 30 I will increase the harvest of fruit trees and the crops in the field so you will never again suffer ·shame [disgrace] among the nations because of ·hunger [famine]. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and actions that were not good, and you will ·hate [loathe] yourselves because of your sins and your ·terrible acts that I hate [detestable/abominable acts]. 32 I want you to know that I am not going to do this for your sake, says the Lord God. Be ashamed and embarrassed about your ways, [L house of] Israel.
Some of the earliest surviving Greek copies do not contain 7:53—8:11.
|53 And everyone left and went home.
The Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives [C east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley]. 2 But ·early in the morning [at dawn] he went back to the Temple [courts; 2:14], and all the people came to him, and he sat and taught them. 3 The ·teachers of the law [scribes; C experts in the law of Moses] and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They forced her to stand ·before [or in the midst of] the people. 4 They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught ·having sexual relations with a man who is not her husband [in the very act of committing adultery]. 5 The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this [compare Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22–24]. What do you say we should do?” 6 They were asking this to ·trick [trap; test] Jesus so that they could have some ·charge [accusation] against him.
But Jesus ·bent over [stooped down] and started writing on the ground with his finger [C we do not know what he is writing though there has been much speculation]. 7 When they continued to ask Jesus their question, he ·raised up [straightened] and said, “Anyone here who ·has never sinned [is guiltless; T is without sin] can throw the first stone at her [Deut. 13:9; 17:7; comp. Lev. 24:14].” 8 Then Jesus ·bent over [stooped down] again and wrote on the ground.
9 Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one, first the ·older men [elders] and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus ·raised up [straightened] again and asked her, “Woman [C a respectful term of address in Greek; see 2:4], where are they? Has no one ·judged you guilty [condemned you]?”
11 She answered, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “I also don’t ·judge you guilty [condemn you]. ·You may go now, but don’t sin anymore [T Go, and sin no more].”|
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