Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 But the [a]face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off their remembrance from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near unto them that are of a [b]contrite heart, and will save such as be afflicted in spirit.
19 Great are the troubles of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
20 [c]He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 But malice shall slay the [d]wicked: and they that hate the righteous, shall perish.
22 The Lord [e]redeemeth the souls of his servants: and none that trust in him, shall perish.
21 ¶ Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads over the thousands of Israel,
22 The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel himself shall know: if by rebellion, or by transgression against the Lord we have done it, save thou us not this day.
23 If we have built us an altar to return away from the Lord, either to offer thereon burnt offering, or meat offering, or to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord [a]himself require it:
24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might say unto our children, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?
25 For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and of Gad: therefore ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children [b]cease from fearing the Lord.
26 Therefore we said, We will now go about to make us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,
27 But it shall be a (A)witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, to execute the service of the Lord before him, in our burnt offerings, and in our sacrifices, and in our peace offerings, and that your children should not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord.
28 Therefore said we, If so be that they should so say to us, or to our [c]generations in time to come, then will we answer, Behold the fashion of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and you.
29 God forbid, that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day away from the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offering, or for meat offering, or for sacrifice, save the altar of the Lord our God that is before his Tabernacle.
30 ¶ And when Phinehas the Priest, and the princes of the Congregation and heads over the thousands of Israel, which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spake, [d]they were well content.
31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the Priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive, that the Lord is [e]among us, because ye have not done this trespass against the Lord: now ye have [f]delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.
32 ¶ Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the Priest with the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them answer.
33 And the saying pleased the children of Israel: and the children of Israel [g]blessed God, and [h]minded not to go against them in battle for to destroy the land, wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34 Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad called the altar [i]Ed: for it shall be a witness between us, that the Lord is God.
5 ¶ [a]Moreover he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves?
6 For a friend of mine is come out of the way to me, and I have nothing to set before him:
7 And he within should answer, and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and give them to thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he would not arise and give him, because he is his friend, yet doubtless because of his [b]importunity, he would rise and give him as many as he needed.
9 (A)And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 (B)For everyone that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
11 (C)If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
13 If ye then which are evil, can give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Ghost to them that desire him?
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.