Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to David after ·David’s sin with Bathsheba [he committed adultery with/L had gone to Bathsheba; 2 Sam. 11:1—12:25].
51 God, be ·merciful [gracious] to me
·because you are loving [according to your love/loyalty].
·Because you are always ready to be merciful [According to your abundant compassion],
·wipe [blot] out all my ·wrongs [transgressions].
2 Wash ·away [L me thoroughly from] all my guilt
and make me clean ·again [L from my sin].
3 I know about my ·wrongs [transgressions],
and ·I can’t forget my sin [L my sin is continually before me].
4 You ·are the only one [alone] I have sinned against;
I have done ·what you say is wrong [L evil in your eyes].
You are ·right [vindicated] when you speak
and ·fair [pure; blameless] when you judge.
5 I was ·brought into this world [born] in ·sin [guilt].
In sin my mother ·gave birth to [conceived] me [Rom. 3:9–20; 7:18].
6 You ·want me to be completely truthful [L desire truth/faithfulness in my inward parts],
·so teach me wisdom [L and secretly you make me know wisdom].
7 ·Take away my sin [L Remove my sin with hyssop; Ex. 12:22; C a plant used in purification rituals; Lev. 14:4, 6, 49–51; Num. 19:18], and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow [Is. 1:18].
8 Make me hear sounds of joy and gladness;
let the bones you crushed ·be happy [rejoice] again.
9 ·Turn [L Hide] your face from my sins
and ·wipe [blot] out all my guilt.
10 Create in me a ·pure [clean] heart, God,
and ·make my spirit right again [L renew a right/steadfast spirit in me].
11 Do not send me away from you
or take your ·Holy Spirit [or holy spirit] away from me.
12 ·Give me back [Restore to me] the joy of your ·salvation [rescue].
·Keep me strong by giving [Sustain in] me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach your ways to ·those who do wrong [transgressors],
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 God, save me from ·the guilt of murder [bloodshed],
God of my ·salvation [rescue],
and ·I will sing about your goodness [L let my tongue sing for joy of your righteousness].
15 Lord, let ·me speak [L my lips open]
so ·I may praise you [L my mouth may speak your praise].
16 You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them.
You don’t want burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17].
17 The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit.
God, you will not ·reject [despise] a heart that is broken and ·sorry for sin [contrite; Is. 57:15; 66:2; Mic. 6:6–8].
18 Do whatever good you wish for ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with right sacrifices and whole burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17],
and bulls will be offered on your altar.
10 The Lord your God will bring you into the land he promised to your ·ancestors [fathers], to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will give it to you [Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. The land has large, ·growing [L good; fine] cities you did not build, 11 houses full of good things you did not ·buy [L fill], ·wells [cisterns] you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat as much as you want. 12 But be careful! Do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt ·where you were slaves [L from the house of bondage].
13 ·Respect [Fear] the Lord your God. You must ·worship [serve] him and make your ·promises [oaths; vows] only in his name. 14 Do not ·worship [L go after] other gods as the people around you do, 15 because the Lord your God is a jealous God [4:24]. He is present with you, and if you worship other gods, he will become angry with you and destroy you from the earth. 16 Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah [Ex. 17:1–7; Ps. 95:8; Matt. 4:7]. 17 Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God and the ·rules [statutes; requirements; ordinances] and laws he has given you. 18 Do what ·the Lord says is good and right [L is good and right in the Lord’s eyes] so that things will go well for you. Then you may go in and ·take [possess] the good land the Lord promised to your ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. 19 He will force all your enemies out as you go in, as the Lord has said.
20 In the future when your children ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and rules the Lord our God gave us?” 21 tell them, “We were slaves to the king of Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt ·by his great power [L with a strong hand]. 22 The Lord showed us great and terrible signs and miracles, which he did to Egypt, the king, and his whole ·family [L house]. 23 The Lord brought us out of Egypt to lead us here and to give us the land he promised our ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. 24 The Lord ordered us to obey all these ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and to ·respect [fear] the Lord our God so that we will always do well and stay alive, as we are today. 25 The right thing for us to do is this: Obey all these rules in the presence of the Lord our God, as he has commanded.”
17 ·If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him [L Repay no one evil for evil]. ·Try to do [or Consider carefully] what ·everyone thinks is right [others view as good/honorable; L is good/noble before all people]. 18 ·Do your best to [L If possible, from your part,] live in peace with everyone. 19 My friends, do not ·try to punish others when they wrong you [take revenge; avenge yourselves], but ·wait for God to punish them with his anger [L leave room for (God’s) wrath]. [L For] It is written: “·I will punish those who do wrong [L Vengeance is mine]; I will repay them [Deut. 32:35],” says the Lord. 20 But you should do this:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him a drink.
Doing this will be like ·pouring [heaping] burning coals on his head [Prov. 25:21–22].”
21 Do not let evil ·defeat [conquer; overcome] you, but ·defeat [conquer; overcome] evil by doing good.
Loving Others
8 Do not owe ·people [L anyone] anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has ·obeyed all [fulfilled] the law. 9 [L For] The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not ·want to take your neighbor’s things [covet; Ex. 20:13–15, 17; Deut. 5:17–21].” All these commands and all others are really summed up in this one ·rule [command; word]: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].” 10 Love never ·hurts [does wrong/evil to] a neighbor, so loving is ·obeying all [fulfilling] the law.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.