Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

An Evening Prayer

141 I call upon You, O Lord. Hurry to me! Hear my voice when I call to You! ² May my prayer be like special perfume before You. May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening gift given on the altar in worship. ³ O Lord, put a watch over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. ⁴ Do not let my heart turn to any sinful thing, to do wrong with men who sin. And do not let me eat their fine food.

⁵ Let those who are right with God punish me and speak strong words to me in kindness. It is oil upon my head. Do not let my head turn away from it. Yet my prayer is always against the sinful works of those who sin. ⁶ When their rulers are thrown down from high rocks, they will hear my words, for they are true. ⁷ Our bones have been spread around the mouth of the grave like the broken ground behind the plow.

⁸ For my eyes are toward You, O God the Lord. In You I have a safe place. Do not leave me without help. ⁹ Keep me from the trap they have set for me. Keep me from the nets of those who do wrong. ¹⁰ Let the sinful fall into their own nets, while I pass by and am safe.

God Will Bring Israel Back

¹⁴ Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your family, those who were driven out of the land, and all the people of Israel are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for our own.’ ¹⁶ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I sent them far away among the nations. I divided them among the countries. But still I was a holy place for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will gather you from the nations. I will gather you together out of the countries where you have been divided. And I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they return to it, they will take away all its hated and sinful things. ¹⁹ I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. ²⁰ Then they will walk in My Laws and keep them, and obey them. They will be My people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts go after their hated and sinful things, I will bring their actions upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them. And the shining-greatness of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ The shining-greatness of the Lord went up from the city and stood over the mountain east of it. ²⁴ The Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a special dream by the Spirit of God to the Jews who had been taken to Babylon. Then the special dream that I had seen left me. ²⁵ And I told the Jews in Babylon all the things that the Lord had shown me.

²⁵ So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. ²⁶ If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. ²⁷ Do not let the devil start working in your life. ²⁸ Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. ²⁹ Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. ³⁰ Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. ³¹ Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. ³² You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.

5 Do as God would do. Much-loved children want to do as their fathers do. ² Live with love as Christ loved you. He gave Himself for us, a gift on the altar to God which was as a sweet smell to God.