Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf (A)for your name's sake;
because your (B)steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am (C)poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like (D)a shadow at evening;
I am (E)shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak (F)through fasting;
my (G)body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am (H)an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they (I)wag their heads.
26 (J)Help me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them (K)know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 (L)Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but (M)your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be (N)clothed with dishonor;
may they (O)be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
Israel's Continuing Rebellion
20 (A)In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of (B)the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, (C)and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 (D)“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? (E)As I live, declares the Lord God, (F)I will not be inquired of by you. 4 (G)Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? (H)Let them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: (I)On the day when I chose Israel, (J)I swore[a] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, (K)making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; (L)I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that (M)I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land (N)flowing with milk and honey, (O)the most glorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, (P)‘Cast away the detestable things (Q)your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with (R)the idols of Egypt; (S)I am the Lord your God.’ 8 (T)But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. (U)None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them (V)and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 (W)But I acted (X)for the sake of my name, (Y)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, (Z)in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 (AA)So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 (AB)I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, (AC)by which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, I gave them (AD)my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, (AE)that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 (AF)But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. (AG)They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; (AH)and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.
(AI)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, (AJ)in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, (AK)I swore to them in the wilderness (AL)that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land (AM)flowing with milk and honey, (AN)the most glorious of all lands, 16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; (AO)for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, (AP)my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or (AQ)make a full end of them in the wilderness.
A Rest for the People of God
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
(A)“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for (B)forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 (C)As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from (D)the living God. 13 But (E)exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by (F)the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, (G)if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,
(H)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For (I)who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not (J)all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (K)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that (L)they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that (M)they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem (N)to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because (O)they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
(P)“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: (Q)“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
(R)“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news (S)failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
(T)“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also (U)rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so (V)that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.