Revive Us Again

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

Israel's Shedding of Blood

22 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “And you, ^(A)son of man, ^(B)will you judge, will you judge ^(C)the bloody city? ^(D)Then declare to her all her abominations. ³ You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that ^(E)her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! ⁴ You have become guilty ^(F)by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought ^(G)your days near, the appointed time of^[a] your years has come. ^(H)Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; ^(I)your name is defiled; ^(J)you are full of tumult.

⁶ “Behold, ^(K)the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. ⁷ Father and mother ^(L)are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner ^(M)suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow ^(N)are wronged in you. ^8 (O)You have despised my holy things and ^(P)profaned my Sabbaths. ^9 (Q)There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you ^(R)who eat on the mountains; ^(S)they commit lewdness in your midst. ¹⁰ In you ^(T)men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. ^11 (U)One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; ^(V)another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; ^(W)another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. ¹² In you ^(X)they take bribes to shed blood; ^(Y)you take interest and profit^[b] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but ^(Z)me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

¹³ “Behold, ^(AA)I strike my hand at ^(AB)the dishonest gain that you have made, and at ^(AC)the blood that has been in your midst. ^14 (AD)Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? ^(AE)I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. ^15 (AF)I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and ^(AG)I will consume your uncleanness out of you. ¹⁶ And ^(AH)you shall be profaned by your own doing ^(AI)in the sight of the nations, ^(AJ)and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me: ^18 (AK)“Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^(AL)dross to me; all of them are ^(AM)bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are ^(AN)dross of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, ^(AO)to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you ^(AP)in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. ²¹ I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. ²² As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; ^(AQ)I have poured out my wrath upon you.”

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is ^(AR)not cleansed ^(AS)or rained upon in the day of indignation. ^25 (AT)The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is ^(AU)like a roaring lion ^(AV)tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ^26 (AW)Her priests ^(AX)have done violence to my law and ^(AY)have profaned my holy things. ^(AZ)They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and ^(BA)they have disregarded my Sabbaths, ^(BB)so that I am profaned among them. ^27 (BC)Her princes in her midst are like wolves ^(BD)tearing the prey, ^(BE)shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ²⁸ And ^(BF)her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ^(BG)seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land ^(BH)have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and ^(BI)have extorted from the sojourner without justice. ^30 (BJ)And I sought for a man among them ^(BK)who should build up the wall ^(BL)and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. ³¹ Therefore ^(BM)I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned ^(BN)their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

Qualifications for Overseers

3 The saying is ^(A)trustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^(B)the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ² Therefore ^(C)an overseer^[a] must be above reproach, ^(D)the husband of one wife,^{[b] (E)}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^(F)hospitable, ^(G)able to teach, ³ not a drunkard, not violent but ^(H)gentle, not quarrelsome, ^(I)not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^(J)keeping his children submissive, ⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^(K)God's church? ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^(L)become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷ Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^(M)outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^(N)a snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

^8 (O)Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{[c] (P)}not addicted to much wine, ^(Q)not greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must ^(R)hold the mystery of the faith with ^(S)a clear conscience. ¹⁰ And ^(T)let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ^11 (U)Their wives likewise^[d] must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^(V)faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons each be ^(W)the husband of one wife, ^(X)managing their children and their own households well. ¹³ For ^(Y)those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. ¹⁶ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: