Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path [C it shows how life should be lived].
106 I ·will do what I have promised [L have sworn and confirmed it]
and ·obey [keep; guard] your ·fair [righteous] ·laws [judgments].
107 I have suffered ·for a long time [or greatly].
Lord, ·give me [spare my] life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my ·willing [offering of] praise
and teach me your ·laws [judgments].
109 My life is always in ·danger [L my hand],
but I haven’t forgotten your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I haven’t ·strayed [wandered] from your ·orders [precepts].
111 ·I will follow your rules forever [L Your rules/decrees/precepts are my inheritance forever],
because they make ·me [L my heart] happy.
112 I will ·try [L incline my heart] to do ·what you demand [L your statutes/ordinances]
forever, until the end.
The Burning Bush
3 One day Moses was ·taking care of [shepherding; grazing] Jethro’s flock. (Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law.) When Moses led the flock to the west side of the ·desert [wilderness], he came to ·Sinai [L Horeb; C another name for Mount Sinai], the mountain of God. 2 There the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not ·burning up [consumed]. 3 So Moses said, “I will ·go closer to [L turn aside to see] this ·strange [or marvelous; great] thing. ·How can a bush continue burning without burning up [Why does not the bush burn]?”
4 When the Lord saw Moses was ·coming [L turning aside] to look at it, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals [L from your feet], because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ·ancestors [fathers; L father]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses ·covered [hid] his face because he was afraid to look at God.
12 ·People [or For all those] who do not have the law [C Gentiles without the written law of Moses] and who are sinners will ·be lost [perish], although they do not have the law. And, in the same way, those who have the law [C Jews who have the law of Moses] and are sinners will be judged by the law. 13 Hearing the law does not make people ·right with [righteous/justified before] God. It is those who obey the law who will be ·right with [justified/declared righteous before] him. 14 (·Those who are not Jews [Gentiles] do not have the law, but when they ·freely [by nature; instinctively] do what the law commands, they ·are the law for themselves [or reveal their awareness of God’s law]. This is true even though they do not have the law [C the written law of Moses]. 15 They show that ·in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, just as the law commands [L the requirements of the law are written on their hearts]. And they show this by their consciences [L bearing witness]. Sometimes their thoughts ·tell them they did wrong [L accuse them], and sometimes their thoughts ·tell them they did right [defend them].) 16 ·All these things [or This] will happen on the day when, according to ·my Gospel [the Good News I preach], God, through Christ Jesus, will judge people’s secret thoughts.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.