Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
let those who hate him ·run away [flee] from him.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is ·driven [blown] away by the wind [Hos. 13:3].
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked ·be destroyed [perish] before God [Mic. 1:4].
3 But ·those who do right [the righteous] should be glad
and should rejoice before God;
they should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God; ·sing praises [make a psalm] to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides ·through the desert [on the clouds; C as on a chariot; 18:10–19; 104:3; Is. 19:1; Dan. 7:13–14; Luke 21:27; Rev. 1:7],
whose name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy ·Temple [L abode].
He is a father to orphans [10:14; 146:9],
and he defends the widows [146:9].
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out ·with joy [with singing; or to prosperity],
but ·those who turn against God [L the rebellious] will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out
when you marched through the ·desert [wasteland; wilderness]. ·
8 The ·ground [earth; land] shook
and the ·sky [heavens] poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai [Ex. 19],
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain;
you ·refreshed [restored] your ·tired [withering] ·land [L inheritance].
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
19 ·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord, God our ·Savior [Victor],
who ·helps us [L bears our burdens] every day. ·
20 Our God is a God who ·saves us [gives us victory];
the Lord God ·saves us [L brings us out] from death.
9 The ·fatherless child [orphan] is grabbed from its mother’s breast;
they take a poor mother’s baby ·to pay for what she owes [L as a pledge; 24:3].
10 So the poor ·go [wander] around naked without any clothes;
they carry bundles of grain but still go hungry;
11 they crush olives to get oil
and grapes to get wine, but they still go thirsty.
12 Dying people groan in the city,
and the ·injured [or living dead] cry out for help,
but God ·accuses no one of doing wrong [or does not hear/react to their prayers].
13 “Those who ·fight [rebel] against the light
do not ·know [recognize] God’s ways
or stay in his paths.
14 ·When the day is over [or At the light], the murderers get up
to ·kill [slay] the poor and needy.
At night they go about like thieves [Ex. 22:2].
15 ·Those who are guilty of adultery [L The eyes of the adulterer] watch for the ·night [dusk],
thinking, ‘No ·one [L eye] will see us,’
and they keep their faces covered [Prov. 7:6–9].
16 In the dark, evil people break into houses [v. 14].
In the daytime they ·shut [seal] themselves up in their own houses,
because they ·want nothing to do with [L do not know] the light.
17 Darkness is like morning to all these evil people
who ·make friends with [L recognize] the terrors of darkness.
18 “·They [The wicked] are ·like foam floating [or like scum; L quick] on the water.
Their ·part of the land [lot; portion] is cursed;
no one ·uses the road that goes by [L turns toward] their vineyards. [C This seems to contradict Job’s contention that the wicked escape judgment. Perhaps these are his opponents’ views, or his wish.]
19 As ·heat and dryness [the desert and heat] ·quickly melt the snow [L steal away the snow waters],
so ·the grave [L Sheol] quickly takes away the sinners.
20 ·Their mothers [L The womb] forget them,
and worms ·will eat their bodies [L think they are sweet].
They will not be remembered,
so wickedness is broken in pieces like a ·stick [L tree; C perhaps by wind or lightening; Ps. 29:5–6; Ezek. 17:24].
21 These evil people ·abuse women who cannot have children [or associate with barren women]
·and show no kindness to widows [or which is not favorable to their widow].
22 But God drags away the strong by his power.
Even though they ·seem strong [L rise up], they ·do not know how long they will live [L can have no confidence in life].
23 God may ·let these evil people feel safe [give them security they can lean on],
but ·he is watching [L his eyes are on] their ways.
24 For a little while they are ·important [exalted], and then ·they die [L are no more];
they ·are laid low [or give in] and ·buried [L are gathered/drawn in] like everyone else;
they ·are cut off [or wither] like the heads of grain.
25 If this is not true, who can prove I am ·wrong [L a liar]?
Who can show that my words are worth nothing?”
Paul Shows that Peter Was Wrong
11 [L But] When ·Peter [L Cephas; C Peter’s name in Aramaic; 1:18] came to Antioch, I challenged him to his face, because he ·was wrong [L stood condemned]. 12 [L For; Because] ·Peter [L He] ate with the Gentiles until ·some Jewish people [L certain people] sent from James [1:19] came to Antioch [C a major city in Syria]. When they arrived, Peter ·stopped eating with those who weren’t Jewish [L backed off; withdrew], and he separated himself from them. […because] He was afraid of the ·Jews [circumcised; or the pro-circumcision group]. 13 Then the rest of the ·Jewish believers [L Jews] joined him in this hypocrisy. Even Barnabas was ·influenced [swept along; carried away] by their hypocrisy. 14 [L But] When I saw they were not ·following [acting in line with] the truth of the ·Good News [Gospel], I spoke to ·Peter [L Cephas; v. 11] in front of them all. I said, “You are a Jew, but you are living like a Gentile and not a Jew. So how can you now try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?”
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