Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
9 How can a young person ·live a pure life [L keep his way pure]?
By ·obeying [guarding; keeping] your word.
10 With all my heart I ·try to obey [seek] you.
Don’t let me ·break [stray from] your commands.
11 I have ·taken your words to heart [treasured/stored your words in my heart]
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you ·should be praised [are blessed].
Teach me your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
13 My lips will ·tell about [recount]
all the ·laws you have spoken [L judgments of your mouth].
14 I enjoy ·living by your rules [the way of your decrees/testimonies]
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I ·think about [meditate on] your ·orders [precepts]
and ·study [look at] your ways.
16 I enjoy ·obeying your demands [your statutes/ordinances/requirements],
and I will not forget your word.
Judah Is God’s Witness
8 Bring out the people who have eyes but ·don’t see [are blind]
and those who have ears but ·don’t hear [are deaf; 42:19].
9 All the nations gather together,
and all the people ·come together [assemble].
·Which of their gods [L Who among them] said this would happen?
·Which of their gods can tell what happened in the beginning [L …and caused us to hear former things]?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove they were right.
Then others will say, “It is true.”
10 The Lord says, “You are my witnesses
and the servant I chose [42:1].
I chose you so you would know and believe me,
so you would understand that I am ·the true God [L he].
There was no God ·created [formed] before me,
and there will be ·no God [none] after me.
11 I myself am the Lord;
I am the only Savior.
12 I myself have ·spoken [made known] to you, saved you, and ·told [proclaimed to] you these things.
It was not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses, and I am God,”
says the Lord.
13 “·I have always been God [L Indeed from the day, I am he; C “day” may mean the first day of creation or from this day forward].
No one can save people from my ·power [L hand];
when I do something, no one can ·change [undo; reverse] it.”
4 We can say this, because through Christ we ·feel certain before God [have confidence in God’s presence; or can trust in God]. 5 We are not saying that we ·can do this work ourselves [L are able/competent/adequate to consider anything as from ourselves]. ·It is God who makes us able to do all that we do [L But our ability/competence/adequacy is from God]. 6 He made us ·able [adequate; competent] to be servants of a new ·agreement from himself to his people [covenant; Jer. 31:31–34; Luke 22:20]. This new ·agreement [covenant] is not ·a written law [L of the letter], but it is of the Spirit. The ·written law [L letter] brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
7 The ·law [or old system; L ministry] that brought death was ·written in words [L engraved with letters] on stone. It came with ·God’s glory [L glory], which made Moses’ face so ·bright [glorious] that the ·Israelites [L children of Israel] could not ·continue to look [gaze] at it. But that glory ·later disappeared [was fading; or was made ineffective (by the veil on his face)]. 8 So ·surely [L will not…?] the ·new way that brings [L ministry of] the Spirit has even more glory. 9 [L For] If the ·law that judged people guilty of sin [L ministry of condemnation] had glory, surely the ·new way that makes people right with God [L ministry of righteousness] has much greater glory. 10 For that which had glory [C the law] ·really loses its glory [L has no glory] when it is compared to the much greater glory [C the new way through the Spirit]. 11 [L For] If that which ·disappeared [faded; was made ineffective; C the law; v. 7] came with glory, then that which ·continues forever [remains; abides; C the new way through the Spirit] has much greater glory.
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