Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
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.
God Calls and Jonah Obeys
3 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to Jonah ·again [a second time] and said, 2 “Get up, go to the great city Nineveh [1:2], and ·preach [cry out] to it what I tell you to say.”
3 So Jonah obeyed the Lord and got up and went to Nineveh. It was a very large city; just to walk ·across it [or through it all] took a person three days. 4 After Jonah had entered the city and walked for one day, he preached to the people, saying, “After forty days, Nineveh will be ·destroyed [overthrown]!”
5 The people of Nineveh believed God. They ·announced that they would fast [called for/decreed a fast], and they put on ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; C to show their sorrow and repentance]. All the people in the city did this, from the ·most important to the least important [L greatest to the least].
6 When the king of Nineveh heard this news, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, and covered himself with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth] and sat in ashes [C to show sorrow and repentance].
7 He ·sent this announcement [issued a proclamation] through Nineveh:
By ·command [the decree] of the king and his ·important men [nobles]: No person or animal, herd or flock, will be allowed to taste anything. Do not let them eat food or drink water. 8 But every person and animal should be covered with ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth], and people should ·cry loudly [pray earnestly] to God. Everyone must turn away from evil living and stop doing ·harm [violence] all the time. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will ·change his mind [relent]. Maybe he will ·stop being angry [turn from his fierce anger], and then we will not ·die [perish].
10 When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he ·changed his mind [relented] and did not carry out the ·destruction [disaster; punishment] he had threatened.
1 From Paul, a ·servant [slave; bondservant] of Christ Jesus. ·God called me [L …called] to be an ·apostle [messenger] and ·chose me [set me apart; appointed me] to tell the ·Good News [Gospel].
2 God promised this ·Good News [Gospel] ·long ago [beforehand; previously] through his prophets, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about God’s Son. ·As a man [or With reference to his earthly life; L According to the flesh], he was born ·from the family [a descendant; L of the seed] of David [2 Sam. 7:11–14]. 4 But through the Spirit of holiness [C a Jewish way of referring to the Holy Spirit] he was ·declared [or designated; appointed] to be God’s Son with great power by rising from the dead [C though eternally the Son of God, Jesus was appointed such “with power” at his resurrection; see Ps. 2:7; 110:1–2]. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through ·Christ [L whom], ·God gave me the special work of an apostle [L we have received apostleship; C “we” could be a formal way of saying “I,” or could refer to Paul and the other apostles], which was to lead ·people of all nations [the Gentiles] to ·believe and obey [or the obedience that comes from faith; or the obedience that is faith]. I do this work for ·him [L his name]. 6 And you who are in Rome are also among those [C Gentiles] called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be ·his holy people [T saints]:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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