Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 10[a]
10 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble?[b]
2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed;[c]
the oppressed are trapped[d] by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up.[e]
3 Yes,[f] the wicked man[g] boasts because he gets what he wants;[h]
the one who robs others[i] curses[j] and[k] rejects the Lord.[l]
4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,
“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”[m]
5 He is secure at all times.[n]
He has no regard for your commands;[o]
he disdains all his enemies.[p]
6 He says to himself,[q]
“I will never[r] be shaken,
because I experience no calamity.”[s]
7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words;[t]
his tongue injures and destroys.[u]
8 He waits in ambush near the villages;[v]
in hidden places he kills the innocent.
His eyes look for some unfortunate victim.[w]
9 He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket.[x]
He lies in ambush, waiting to catch[y] the oppressed;
he catches the oppressed[z] by pulling in his net.[aa]
10 His victims are crushed and beaten down;
they are trapped in his sturdy nets.[ab]
11 He says to himself,[ac]
“God overlooks it;
he does not pay attention;
he never notices.”[ad]
12 Rise up, Lord![ae]
O God, strike him down.[af]
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man reject God?[ag]
He says to himself,[ah] “You[ai] will not hold me accountable.”[aj]
14 You have taken notice,[ak]
for[al] you always see[am] one who inflicts pain and suffering.[an]
The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you;[ao]
you deliver[ap] the fatherless.[aq]
15 Break the arm[ar] of the wicked and evil man.
Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds,[as]
which he thought you would not discover.[at]
16 The Lord rules forever![au]
The nations are driven out of his land.[av]
17 Lord, you have heard[aw] the request[ax] of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer.[ay]
18 You defend[az] the fatherless and oppressed,[ba]
so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.[bb]
Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment
7 The Lord said to Jeremiah:[a] 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s temple and proclaim[b] this message: ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the Lord.[c] 3 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[d] says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.[e] If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.[f] 4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says,[g] “We are safe![h] The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!”[i] 5 You must change[j] the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.[k] 6 Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.[l] Stop killing innocent people[m] in this land. Stop paying allegiance to[n] other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.[o] 7 If you stop doing these things,[p] I will allow you to continue to live in this land[q] that I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.[r]
8 “‘But just look at you![s] You are putting your confidence in a false belief[t] that will not deliver you.[u] 9 You steal.[v] You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to[w] other gods whom you have not previously known. 10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own[x] and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins![y] 11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own[z] is to be a hideout for robbers?[aa] You had better take note![ab] I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord. 12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped[ac] in the early days. See what I did to it[ad] because of the wicked things my people Israel did. 13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again.[ae] But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent![af] 14 So I will destroy this temple that I have claimed as my own,[ag] this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors,[ah] just like I destroyed Shiloh.[ai] 15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’[aj]
Exposition of Psalm 95: Hearing God’s Word in Faith
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,[a]
“Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![b]
8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.
9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me,[c] and they saw my works for forty years.
10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering[d] and they have not known my ways.’
11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[e]
12 See to it,[f] brothers and sisters,[g] that none of you has[h] an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes[i] the living God.[j] 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence[k] firm until the end. 15 As it says,[l] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![m] Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[n] 16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership?[o] 17 And against whom was God[p] provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?[q] 18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 So[r] we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.
God’s Promised Rest
4 Therefore we must be wary[s] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[t] with those who heard it in faith.[u] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[v] And yet God’s works[w] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[x] 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier:[y] “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God[z] again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[aa] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[ab] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![ac] Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[ad] would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s[ae] rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.