Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Unfair Judges
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A miktam [C perhaps “inscription”] of David.
58 Do you ·rulers [or silent ones; or gods; C sometimes spiritual beings such as angels are called “gods” in the OT; 82:1] really say what is ·right [righteous]?
Do you judge people ·fairly [with integrity]?
2 No, in your heart you plan evil;
you ·think up [dispense] ·violent crimes [violence] in the land.
3 From ·birth [L the womb], evil people ·turn away [go astray] from God;
they wander off and tell lies ·as soon as they are born [L from the belly; C another word for the womb; 51:5].
4 They ·are [L have poison/venom] like ·poisonous [venomous] snakes,
like deaf cobras that ·stop [plug] up their ears
5 so they cannot hear the music of the snake charmer
no matter how ·well he plays [wisely/skillfully he enchants].
6 God, break the teeth in their mouths!
·Tear out [Uproot] the fangs of those lions, Lord!
7 Let them ·disappear [vanish] like water that flows away.
Let them ·be cut short like a broken arrow [L draw their arrows like they are cut off].
8 Let them be like ·snails [slugs] that ·melt [dissolve] as they move [C snails leave a slime as they move].
Let them be like a ·child born dead [stillborn] who never saw the sun.
9 His anger will blow them away alive
faster than burning thorns can heat a pot [C likely a reference to quick retribution].
10 ·Good [Righteous] people will be glad when they see ·him get even [vengeance].
They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked [Is. 63:1–6; Rev. 14:19–20; 19:13–14].
11 Then people will say,
“There really are ·rewards [fruits] for ·doing what is right [the righteous].
There really is a God who judges the ·world [earth; land].”
Judah Is Unfaithful
3 “If a man ·divorces [L sends away] his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should her first husband come back to her again?
If he went back to her, wouldn’t the land become completely ·unclean [defiled; polluted; C in a ritual sense; such a thing was forbidden by the Law; Deut. 24:1–4]?
But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers,
and now you want to come back to me?” says the Lord [Hos. 2:7];
2 “·Look up [L Lift up your eyes and look] to the bare hilltops, Judah.
Is there any place where ·you have not been a prostitute [L you have not been lain with; C the hill country contained many pagan altars]?
You have sat by the road waiting for lovers,
like an Arab in the ·desert [wilderness].
You made the land ·unclean [defiled; polluted; C in a ritual sense],
because you did evil and were like a prostitute.
3 So the rain has ·not come [L been withheld],
and there have not been any spring rains [1 Kin. 17:1].
But ·your face still looks like the face [L you have the forehead] of a prostitute [C unembarrassed].
You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
4 ·Now you are [L Are you not now…?] calling to me,
‘My father, you have been my friend since I was young.
5 Will you always be angry at me?
Will your anger last ·forever [L to the end]?’
Judah, you said this,
but you did as much evil as you could!”
Judah and Israel Are like Sisters
6 ·When [L In the days when] Josiah [C Jeremiah began his work in Josiah’s thirteenth year (626 bc) and continued until Josiah’s death (609 bc) and beyond; 1:1–3] was ·ruling Judah [L king], the Lord said to me, “Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She was like a prostitute with her idols on every hill and under every green tree [2:20]. 7 I said to myself, ‘Israel will come back to me after she does this evil,’ but she didn’t come back. And Israel’s ·wicked [traitorous; treacherous] sister Judah saw what she did [Ezek. 13; 26]. 8 Judah saw that I ·divorced [L sent away with a certificate of divorce] unfaithful Israel because of her adultery [C in the Assyrian exile of 722 bc], but that didn’t make Israel’s ·wicked [traitorous; treacherous] sister Judah afraid. She also went out and acted like a prostitute! 9 And she didn’t care that she was acting like a prostitute. So she made her country ·unclean [defiled; polluted; C in a ritual sense] and was guilty of adultery with stone and wood [C by worshiping idols made of these materials]. 10 Israel’s ·wicked [traitorous; treacherous] sister, Judah, didn’t even come back to me with her whole heart, but only pretended,” says the Lord.
11 The Lord said to me, “·Unfaithful [Apostate] Israel ·had a better excuse [L is more righteous] than ·wicked [traitorous; treacherous] Judah. 12 Go and speak ·this message [L these words] toward the north:
‘·Come back [Return], ·unfaithful [apostate] people of Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will ·stop being angry [no longer frown; L make my face fall] at you,
because I am ·full of mercy [loyal],’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
13 ·All you have to do is admit your sin—[L Acknowledge your guilt]
that you ·turned [rebelled; transgressed] against the Lord your God
and ·worshiped gods [L scattered your ways to strangers] under every green tree [2:20]
and didn’t ·obey me [L listen to my voice],’” says the Lord.
14 “·Come back [Return] to me, you ·unfaithful [apostate] children,” says the Lord, “because I am your master. I will take one person from every city and two from every ·family group [clan], and I will bring you to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
1 From Paul, a ·servant [slave; bondservant] of God and an ·apostle [messenger] of Jesus Christ. I was sent ·to help [or in the service of; or to bring about] the faith of God’s ·chosen people [elect] and to help them know the truth that ·shows people how to serve God [or leads to godliness/piety]. 2 That faith and that knowledge ·come from [or lead to] the ·hope for [confidence/certainty of] ·life forever [eternal life], which God, who never lies, promised to us before ·time began [L eternal times]. 3 At ·the right [the appointed; his own] time God ·let the world know about that life [L revealed/manifested his word/message] through preaching. He ·trusted [entrusted] me with that work by the command of God our Savior.
4 To Titus [2 Cor. 2:13; 7:6; 8:16; Gal. 2:1–3], my ·true [genuine] child in the faith we share:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 I left you in Crete [C an island in the Mediterranean southeast of Greece] so you could ·finish doing [organize; straighten out] the things that still needed to be done and so you could appoint elders in every ·town [city], as I directed you. 6 An elder [1 Tim. 3:1–7] must ·not be guilty of doing wrong [be blameless], must ·have only one wife [or be faithful to his wife], and must have ·believing [or faithful] children. They must not be ·known as children who are [accused of being] ·wild [reckless] and ·do not cooperate [unruly; undisciplined; rebellious]. 7 As God’s ·managers [stewards], overseers [C probably the same church office as elder; 1 Tim. 3:1, 6, 7; 5:17] must be ·innocent of wrongdoing [blameless], ·unselfish [not arrogant/self-willed], not ·quick-tempered [easily angered]. They must not ·drink too much wine [be a drunkard], ·like to fight [be violent/a brawler], or ·try to get rich by cheating others [be greedy for gain/dishonest in business]. 8 Overseers must be ·ready to welcome guests [hospitable], love what is good, be ·wise [self-controlled; sensible], ·live right [upright; just], and be ·holy [devout] and ·self-controlled [disciplined]. 9 By holding ·on [firmly] to the ·trustworthy [faithful] ·word [message] just as it was taught to them, overseers can ·encourage [exhort] people with ·true [sound; healthy] teaching, and they can ·correct [reprove; refute] those who are against it.
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