Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 139[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
139 O Lord, you examine me[b] and know me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.
3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;[c]
you are aware of everything I do.[d]
4 Certainly[e] my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.[f]
5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.[g]
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence?[h]
8 If I were to ascend[i] to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out[j] in Sheol, there you would be.[k]
9 If I were to fly away[l] on the wings of the dawn,[m]
and settle down on the other side[n] of the sea,
10 even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.
11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,[o]
and the light will turn to night all around me,”[p]
12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,[q]
and the night is as bright as[r] day;
darkness and light are the same to you.[s]
13 Certainly[t] you made my mind and heart;[u]
you wove me together[v] in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing.[w]
You knew me thoroughly;[x]
15 my bones were not hidden from you,
when[y] I was made in secret
and sewed together in the depths of the earth.[z]
16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.[aa]
All the days ordained for me
were recorded in your scroll
before one of them came into existence.[ab]
17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God![ac]
How vast is their sum total.[ad]
18 If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you.[ae]
Joash’s Reign over Judah
21 (12:1)[a] Jehoash[b] was seven years old when he began to reign. 12 1 (12:2) In Jehu’s seventh year Jehoash became king; he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba. 2 Jehoash did what the Lord approved[c] all his days when[d] Jehoiada the priest taught him. 3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
4 Jehoash said to the priests, “I place at your disposal[e] all the consecrated silver that has been brought to the Lord’s temple, including the silver collected from the census tax,[f] the silver received from those who have made vows,[g] and all the silver that people have voluntarily contributed to the Lord’s temple.[h] 5 The priests should receive the silver they need from the treasurers and repair any damage to the temple they discover.”[i]
6 By the twenty-third year of King Jehoash’s reign the priests had still not repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest along with the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage to the temple? Now, take no more silver from your treasurers unless you intend to use it to repair the damage.”[j] 8 The priests agreed[k] not to collect silver from the people and relieved themselves of personal responsibility for the temple repairs.[l]
9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and drilled a hole in its lid. He placed it on the right side of the altar near the entrance of[m] the Lord’s temple. The priests who guarded the entrance would put into it all the silver brought to the Lord’s temple. 10 When they saw the chest was full of silver, the royal secretary[n] and the high priest counted the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple and bagged it up.[o] 11 They would then hand over[p] the silver that had been weighed to the construction foremen[q] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and builders to work on the Lord’s temple, 12 as well as masons and stonecutters. They bought wood and chiseled stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and also paid for all the other expenses.[r] 13 The silver brought to the Lord’s temple was not used for silver bowls, trimming shears, basins, trumpets, or any kind of gold or silver implements. 14 It was handed over[s] to the foremen who used it to repair the Lord’s temple. 15 They did not audit the treasurers who disbursed[t] the funds to the foremen, for they were honest.[u] 16 (The silver collected in conjunction with reparation offerings and sin offerings was not brought to the Lord’s temple; it belonged to the priests.)
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud[a] over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure![b] 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[c] 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.[d] 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.[e]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.