Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise and Prayer for Help
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
40 I waited patiently for the Lord.
He ·turned [bent down; inclined; stooped] to me and heard my cry.
2 He ·lifted [drew] me out of the pit of ·destruction [or desolation],
out of the ·sticky mud [miry/muddy pit/bog/swamp].
He ·stood me [L placed my feet] on a rock
and made my ·feet [L step] steady.
3 He put a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many people will see this and ·worship [fear] him.
Then they will ·trust [find refuge in] the Lord.
4 ·Happy [Blessed] is the person
who ·trusts [finds refuge in] the Lord,
who doesn’t turn to those who are proud
or to those who ·worship [go astray to] ·false gods [L a lie].
5 Lord my God, you have done many ·miracles [wonders; great acts].
Your plans for us are many.
If I tried to tell them all,
there would be too many to count [104:24; 139:17–18; John 21:25].
6 You do not want sacrifices and ·offerings [grain offerings; or gifts; tribute; Lev. 2:1].
But you have ·made a hole in [or pierced; L dug] my ear [C to make him hear better or perhaps a reference to the ritual that made one a slave forever; Ex. 21:6; Heb. 10:5–7].
You do not ask for burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17]
and ·sin [or purification] offerings [Lev. 4:3].
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
It is written about me in the ·book [scroll].
8 My God, I ·want [delight; take pleasure] to do ·what you want [your pleasure].
Your ·teachings [instructions; laws] are in my heart.”
9 I will tell ·about your goodness [the good news] in the great ·meeting of your people [assembly].
Lord, you know ·my lips are not silent [L I have not restrained my lips].
10 I do not hide your ·goodness [righteousness] in my heart;
I speak about your ·loyalty [faithfulness] and ·salvation [victory].
I do not hide your ·love [loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness]
from the people in the great ·meeting [assembly].
11 Lord, do not ·hold back [restrain] your ·mercy [compassion] from me;
let your ·love [loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] always protect me.
God’s Message to Shebna
15 This is what the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says:
“Go to this ·servant [steward; administrator] Shebna [36:3, 11, 22; 37:2; 2 Kin. 18:37; 19:2],
·the manager of the palace [L who is over the house].
16 Say to him, ‘What ·are you doing here [or right do you have to be here]?
Who said you could ·cut out [carve; hew] a tomb for yourself here?
Why are you ·preparing [carving; hewing] your tomb in a high place?
Why are you ·carving out [cutting; inscribing] a ·tomb [L dwelling place] from the rock?
17 Look, ·mighty one [or mere man; L man]! The Lord ·will throw you away [L hurling will hurl you].
·He will take firm hold of [L Seizing he will seize] you
18 and roll you tightly into a ball
and throw you into another country.
There you will die,
and there your ·fine [glorious; splendid] chariots will remain.
You ·are a disgrace [bring shame] to your master’s house.
19 I will force you out of your ·important job [office],
and you will be thrown down from your ·important place [position].’
20 “·At that time [L In that day] I will call for my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah [36:3, 11, 22; 37:2; 2 Kin. 18:18, 26, 37]. 21 I will take your robe and put it on him and ·give him [tie around him; or strengthen him with] your ·belt [sash]. I will hand over to him ·the important job you have [your authority], and he will be like a father to the ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem and the ·family [L house] of Judah. 22 I will put the key to the house of David [C a sign of authority, indicating access to the king; Rev. 3:7] around his neck. If he opens a door, no one will be able to close it; if he closes a door, no one will be able to open it. 23 I will make him like a peg that is hammered into a strong board [C a symbol of strength]. He will be like an ·honored chair in [or throne of honor for] his father’s house. 24 All the ·honored and important things of his family [L glory of the house of his father] will ·depend on him [or be given to him; L hang on him; C continuing the “peg” imagery in v. 23, meaning either honor or responsibility]; ·all the adults and little children will depend on him [L its offspring and offshoots]. ·They will be like bowls and jars hanging on him [L …all the small utensils, from the bowls to the jars].
25 “·At that time [L In that day],” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], “the peg hammered into the strong board will weaken. It will ·break [or be cut off] and fall, and everything hanging on it will be destroyed [C Eliakim’s authority would also eventually be taken away].” The Lord says this.
The Only Good News
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly ·turning away from [deserting; forsaking] ·God [L the one] who called you by ·his grace given through Christ [L the grace of Christ], and are believing ·something different than the Good News [L a different Gospel]. 7 ·Really, there is no other Good News [L …which is not another]. But some people are ·confusing [troubling; disturbing] you; they want to ·change [distort] the ·Good News [Gospel] of Christ. 8 But even if we ourselves or an angel from heaven were to preach to you a different message than the Good News we preached, ·we should be [L let him be] ·judged guilty [condemned; accursed; L anathema]! 9 I said this before, and now I say it again: If anyone is preaching a different message than the one you received, ·that person should be [L let him be] ·judged guilty [condemned; accursed; L anathema]!
10 Do you think I am now trying to ·make people accept me [seek human favor/acceptance]? ·No, God is the One I am trying to please [L …or (the favor of) God?]. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a ·servant [slave; bondservant] of Christ.
Paul’s Authority Is from God
11 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the ·Good News [Gospel] I preached to you was not ·made up by human beings [devised by man; of human origin]. 12 I did not get it from ·humans [a human source; man], nor did anyone teach it to me, but ·Jesus Christ showed it to me [L by a revelation of/from/about Jesus Christ; Acts 9].
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