Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the director: A praise song of David.
139 Lord, you have tested me,
so you know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know my thoughts from far away.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
You know everything I do.
4 Lord, you know what I want to say,
even before the words leave my mouth.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and behind me.
I feel your hand on my shoulder.
6 I am amazed at what you know;
it is too much for me to understand.
13 You formed the way I think and feel.[a]
You put me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way.
I know how amazing that was!
15 You could see my bones grow as my body took shape,
hidden in my mother’s womb.[b]
16 You could see my body grow each passing day.[c]
You listed all my parts, and not one of them was missing.
17 Your thoughts are beyond my understanding.[d]
They cannot be measured!
18 If I could count them, they would be more than all the grains of sand.
But when I finished, I would have just begun.[e]
16 Then the Lord chose leaders called judges. These leaders saved the Israelites from the enemies who took their possessions. 17 But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. The Israelites were not faithful to God—they followed other gods.[a] In the past, the ancestors of the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s commands. But now the Israelites changed and stopped obeying the Lord.
18 Many times the enemies of Israel did bad things to the people, so the Israelites would cry for help. And each time the Lord felt sorry for the people and sent a judge to save them from their enemies. The Lord was always with those judges. Each time the Israelites were saved from their enemies. 19 But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and started worshiping the false gods. They acted worse than their ancestors did. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.
20 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and he said, “This nation has broken the agreement that I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. 21 So I will no longer defeat the nations and clear the way for the Israelites. Those nations were still in this land when Joshua died, and I will let them stay in this land. 22 I will use them to test the Israelites. I will see if the Israelites can keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” 23 The Lord allowed those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them to leave the country. He did not help Joshua’s army defeat them.
16 Paul stood up, raised his hand to get their attention, and said, “People of Israel and all you others who worship the true God, please listen to me! 17 The God of Israel chose our ancestors. And during the time our people lived in Egypt as foreigners, he made them great. Then he brought them out of that country with great power. 18 And he was patient with them for 40 years in the desert. 19 God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave their land to his people. 20 All this happened in about 450 years.
“After this, God gave our people judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king. God gave them Saul, the son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years. 22 After God took Saul away, God made David their king. This is what God said about David: ‘David, the son of Jesse, is the kind of person who does what pleases me. He will do everything I want him to do.’
23 “As he promised, God has brought one of David’s descendants to Israel to be their Savior. That descendant is Jesus. 24 Before he came, John told all the people of Israel what they should do. He told them to be baptized to show they wanted to change their lives. 25 When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Messiah.[a] He is coming later, and I am not worthy to be the slave who unties his sandals.’
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International