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.
30 Isaac [L had just] finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said [L to his father], “Father, rise and eat ·the food that your son killed for you [L your son’s game] and then bless me.”
32 Isaac his father asked him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”
33 Then Isaac trembled ·greatly [violently] and said, “Then who was it that hunted ·the animals [game] and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him, and ·it is too late now to take back my blessing [L he will indeed be blessed].”
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father [Heb. 12:17]!”
35 But Isaac said, “Your brother came and ·tricked [deceived; defrauded] me. He has taken your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Jacob [C sounds like Hebrew for “heel” or “deceive”; 25:26] is the right name for him. He has ·tricked me [deceived me; L been at my heel] these two times. He took away my ·share of everything you own [birthright], and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you ·saved [reserved] a blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered [L and said to Esau], “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you, and all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept ·him strong [sustained him] with grain and new wine. ·There is nothing left to give you [L What can I do for you…?], my son.”
38 But Esau ·continued [L said to his father], “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau ·began to cry out loud [L lifted his voice and wept; Heb. 12:17].
Luke’s Second Volume
1 ·To [L O] Theophilus [C a name meaning “Lover of God”; probably a specific individual, though possibly addressing all who love God].
The ·first [or former; previous] ·book [account; C a reference to the Gospel of Luke] I wrote was about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before this, ·with the help of [through] the Holy Spirit, Jesus ·told [instructed; commanded] the apostles he had chosen [Luke 6:13] what they should do. 3 After his ·death [L suffering], he showed himself to them and ·proved [provided undeniable evidence] in many ways that he was alive [Luke 24:13–49]. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was ·eating [or staying; meeting] with them, he ·told [commanded] them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father [C the gift of the Holy Spirit] which I told you about [Luke 24:49]. 5 John baptized people ·with [or in] water [Luke 3:1–20], but in a few days you will be baptized ·with [by; or in] the Holy Spirit.”
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