Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Fairness
A shiggaion [C a musical or literary term of uncertain meaning] of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin [C an unknown person, but the tribe of Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, resisted David’s kingship at first; 2 Sam. 3–4].
7 Lord my God, I ·trust in you for protection [find refuge in you].
·Save [Rescue; T Deliver] me and rescue me
from those who are ·chasing [pursuing] me.
2 Otherwise, like a lion they will tear me apart.
They will ·rip me to pieces [or drag me away], and no one can ·save [rescue; T deliver] me.
3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something ·wrong [to make me guilty]?
4 Have I done wrong to ·my friend [L the one at peace with me]
or stolen without reason from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy ·chase [pursue] me and ·capture [overtake] me.
Let him trample ·me [L my life] into the ·dust [earth]
and ·bury me [L lay my honor] in the ground. ·
6 Lord, rise up in your anger;
·stand up [L lift yourself up] against my enemies’ ·anger [fury].
·Get up [Wake up], ·my God [or for me], and ·demand fairness [insist on/L command judgment].
7 Gather the ·nations [L assembly/congregations of the peoples] around you
and ·rule [or take a seat over; L return] them from ·above [on high].
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, ·defend [judge] me ·because I am right [according to my righteousness],
·because I have done no wrong [according to my innocence].
9 God, you ·do what is right [are righteous].
You ·know [L test] our ·thoughts [L hearts/minds] and ·feelings [L kidneys; C the seat of emotions in Hebrew thought].
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people,
and ·help [establish] those who ·do what is right [are righteous].
10 God ·protects me like a [is my] shield;
he saves those whose hearts ·are right [have integrity].
11 God ·judges by what is right [is a righteous judge],
and God is ·always ready to punish the wicked [L angry every day].
12 If they do not ·change their lives [repent],
God will sharpen his sword;
he will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he has made his flaming arrows.
14 There are people who ·think up [L conceive] evil
and ·plan [L are pregnant with] ·trouble [malice] and ·tell [L give birth to] lies.
15 They dig a ·hole [pit] ·to trap others [L and dig it deep],
but they will fall into it themselves.
16 ·They will get themselves into trouble [L Their trouble/malice will return to their head];
the violence they cause will ·hurt only themselves [L come down on their heads; Prov. 26:27; Matt. 26:52].
17 I praise the Lord ·because he does what is right [according to his righteousness].
I sing praises to the Lord Most High.
6 “I ·did not give you any food [L gave you cleanness of teeth; C an idiom meaning “empty stomachs” and indicating starvation] in your cities,
and there was not enough to eat in any of your towns,
but you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
7 “I held back the rain from you
three months before harvest time.
Then I let it rain on one city
but not on another.
Rain fell on one field,
but another field got none and dried up.
8 ·People weak from thirst went from town to town [L Two or three cities wandered to one] for water,
but they could not get enough to drink.
Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
9 “I ·made your crops die from [L struck you with] ·disease [blight] and mildew.
When your gardens and your vineyards got larger,
locusts ·ate [devoured] your fig and olive trees.
But still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
10 “I sent ·disasters [a plague/pestilence] against you,
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with swords,
and your horses were taken from you.
I made ·you smell the stink from all the dead bodies [L the stench of your camp rise into your nostrils],
but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
11 “I ·destroyed [overthrew] some of you
as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah [Gen. 19].
You were like a burning stick pulled from a fire,
but still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord.
12 “So this is what I will do to you, Israel;
because I will do this to you,
get ready to meet your God, Israel.”
13 [L For look/T behold] He is the one who ·makes [forms] the mountains
and creates the wind
and makes his thoughts known to people.
He changes the dawn into darkness
and ·walks [treads; marches] ·over the mountains [on the heights] of the earth.
His name is the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
We Must Love Each Other
11 This is the ·teaching [message] you have heard from the beginning: We must love each other [C as Jesus himself taught: John 13:34–35; 15:12]. 12 Do not be like Cain who belonged to the Evil One and ·killed [murdered] his brother [Gen. 4; John 8:44]. And why did he ·kill [murder] him? Because the things Cain did were evil, and the things his brother did were ·good [righteous; just].
13 Brothers and sisters [C fellow believers], do not ·be surprised [be amazed; wonder] ·when [or that; or if] ·the people of the world hate [L the world hates] you. 14 We know we have ·left death and have come into life [passed/crossed from death to life; John 5:24] because we love ·each other [L the brothers and sisters]. Whoever does not love ·is still dead [abides/remains/continues in death]. 15 Everyone who hates a brother or sister [C fellow believer] is a murderer [C because they have killed that person in their heart; Matt. 5:21–26], and you know that no murderers have eternal life [L abiding; remaining] in them. 16 This is how we know what real love is: ·Jesus [L he] ·gave [laid down] his life for us [John 15:13]. So we should ·give [lay down] our lives for our brothers and sisters [C fellow believers; John 15:12]. 17 Suppose someone has ·enough to live [L the world’s possessions/goods] and sees a brother or sister [C fellow believer] in need, but ·does not help [L closes off his heart/compassion from him]. ·Then God’s love is not living in that person [L How does God’s love abide/remain in him?].
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