Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 43^[a]

Prayer To Worship God Anew

²⁷ The Punishment of Eli’s Sons.^[a]Now a man of God came to Eli and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh’s house? ²⁸ Did I not choose him from out of all of the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before me? Did I not give your father’s house all of the burnt offerings of the Israelites? ²⁹ Why do you scorn my sacrifice and my offering that I have prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest of the offerings of my people Israel?

³⁰ “ ‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Even though I declared that you and your father’s house would minister before me forever, now, far be it from me,’ says the Lord. ‘I will honor those who honor me, and those who despise me will be despised. ³¹ Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that not a single old man remains in your house. ³² You will see the distress of my dwelling in spite of all that I have given Israel. In your house there will never again be an old man. ³³ Everyone of you whom I do not cut off from my altar will be spared so that you can cry out your eyes and grieve your heart. All the descendants of your house will die in the prime of their life.

³⁴ “ ‘This will be a sign for you of what will come upon your two sons, upon Hophni and Phinehas. They will both die on the same day. ³⁵ But I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will do what is my in heart and my mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will walk before my anointed forever. ³⁶ Whoever is left in your house will bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say, “Please place me in one of the priest’s offices so that I might have a piece of bread to eat.” ’ ”

^17 [a]You call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law and are proud of your relationship to God, ¹⁸ and you know his will and are able to distinguish between right and wrong because you have been instructed in the Law, ¹⁹ and you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of the simple because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

²¹ You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, are you yourself a thief? ²² You who forbid adultery, are you yourself an adulterer? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? ²³ You who boast of the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking it? ²⁴ As it is written, “Because of you the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles.”

²⁵ Circumcision and the Heart.^[b] Circumcision has value if you obey the Law. However, if you break the Law, you have become as if you had never been circumcised. ²⁶ In the same way, if one who is not circumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ Then the man who is not physically circumcised but nevertheless observes the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law.

²⁸ A man is not a Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is true circumcision external and physical. ²⁹ Rather, the Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart—spiritual, not literal. He receives his praise not from human beings but from God.