Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Wants True Worship
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
50 The God of gods, the Lord, speaks.
He ·calls [proclaims to; summons] the earth from the rising to the setting sun.
2 God shines from ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple],
·whose beauty is perfect [L the perfection of beauty; 48:2; Lam. 2:15].
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent.
A fire ·burns [consumes] in front of him [Heb. 12:29],
and a ·powerful storm [whirlwind; tempest] surrounds him [Is. 66:15].
4 He ·calls to [summons] the ·sky [heavens] above and to the earth
that he might judge his people.
5 He says, “Gather around, you ·who worship me [holy ones; saints],
who have made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with me, using a sacrifice [Ex. 24:5–8].”
6 God is the judge,
and even the ·skies say he is right [heavens proclaim his righteousness]. ·
16 Jehu son of Hanani spoke the word of the Lord against King Baasha. 2 The Lord said, “·You were nothing, but I took you [L I raised/exalted you from the dust] and made you ·a leader [ruler] over my people Israel. But you have ·followed [L walked in] the ·ways [paths] of Jeroboam and have led my people Israel to sin. Their sins have ·made me angry [provoked/aroused me to anger], 3 so, Baasha, I will soon ·destroy [consume; wipe out] you and your ·family [L house]. I will do to you what I did to the ·family [L house] of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Anyone ·from your family [L of Baasha] who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone from your ·family [L house] who dies in the ·fields [country] will be eaten by ·birds [vultures; L birds of the air/sky].”
5 Everything else Baasha did and all his victories ·are [L are they not…?] written down in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 14:19] of the kings of Israel. 6 So Baasha ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place.
7 The Lord spoke his word against Baasha and his ·family [L house] through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. Baasha had done ·many things the Lord said were wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], ·which made the Lord very angry [L provoking/arousing him to anger with the works of his hand]. He did the same evil deeds that Jeroboam’s ·family [L house] had done before him. ·The Lord also spoke against Baasha because he killed all of [And Baasha had also destroyed/struck] Jeroboam’s ·family [L house].
Jesus Cries for Jerusalem
41 As Jesus came near Jerusalem, he saw the city and ·cried for [wept over] it, 42 saying, “·I wish you [L If you, even you,] ·knew [recognized] today what would bring you peace. But now it is hidden from ·you [L your eyes]. 43 ·The time is coming [L For the days will come upon you] when your enemies will build ·a wall around you [ramparts against your walls] and will ·hold you in [L surround and close you in] on all sides. 44 They will ·destroy you [level you; smash you to the ground] and all your ·people [L children within your walls], and not one stone will be left on another. All this will happen because you did not recognize the time ·when God came to save you [L of your visitation; C the failure to recognize God’s “visit” in Jesus (see 1:68, 78) will result in a divine “visit” in judgment].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.