Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(A)
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.(B)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(C)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[a] with its branches.(D)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[b]
and shoots toward the River.[c](E)
12 Why have You broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(F)
13 The boar from the forest tears it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(G)
14 Return, God of Hosts.(H)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[d] Your right hand has planted,
the shoot[e] that You made strong for Yourself.(I)
Consequences of Apostasy
14 Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?[a]
Why else has he become a prey?
15 The young lions have roared at him;(A)
they have roared loudly.
They have laid waste his land.(B)
His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.
16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes(C)
have also broken your skull.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself(D)
by abandoning the Lord your God
while He was leading you along the way?
18 Now what will you gain
by traveling along the way to Egypt(E)
to drink the waters of the Nile?[b]
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria(F)
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?(G)
19 Your own evil will discipline you;(H)
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Think it over and see how evil and bitter(I) it is
for you to abandon the Lord your God
and to have no fear of Me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord God of Hosts.
20 For long ago I[c] broke your yoke;(J)
I[d] tore off your chains.
You insisted, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree(K)
you lie down like a prostitute.(L)
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(A) you in regard to food and drink(B) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(C) or a Sabbath day.[a] 17 These are a shadow(D) of what was to come;(E) the substance is[b] the Messiah.(F) 18 Let no one disqualify you,[c](G) insisting on ascetic practices(H) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated(I) without cause by his unspiritual[d] mind. 19 He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(J) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.
20 If you died with the Messiah(K) to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of men. 23 Although these have a reputation of wisdom(L) by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[e](M)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.