Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Prayer of an Innocent Believer
Of David.
26 Lord, defend me because I have lived an innocent life.
I have trusted the Lord and never doubted.
2 Lord, try me and test me;
look closely into my heart and mind.
3 I see your love,
and I live by your truth.
4 I do not spend time with liars,
nor do I make friends with those who hide their sin.
5 I hate the company of evil people,
and I won’t sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands to show I am innocent,
and I come to your altar, Lord.
7 I raise my voice in praise
and tell of all the miracles you have done.
8 Lord, I love the Temple where you live,
where your glory is.
15 Then the Lord said to me: “I would not feel sorry for the people of Judah even if Moses and Samuel prayed for them. Send them away from me! Tell them to go! 2 When they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ tell them: ‘This is what the Lord says:
Those who are meant to die
will die.
Those who are meant to die in war
will die in war.
Those who are meant to die from hunger
will die from hunger.
Those who are meant to be taken captive
will be taken captive.’
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” says the Lord. “I will send war to kill, dogs to drag the bodies away, and the birds of the air and wild animals to eat and destroy the bodies. 4 I will make the people of Judah hated by everyone on earth because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. (Manasseh son of Hezekiah was king of the nation of Judah.)
5 “Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem?
Who will be sad and cry for you?
Who will go out of his way to ask how you are?
6 Jerusalem, you have left me,” says the Lord.
“You keep going farther and farther away,
so I have taken hold of you and destroyed you.
I was tired of holding back my anger.
7 I have separated the people of Judah with my pitchfork
and scattered them at the city gates of the land.
My people haven’t changed their ways.
So I have destroyed them
and taken away their children.
8 There are more widows than grains of sand in the sea.
I brought a destroyer at noontime
against the mothers of the young men of Judah.
I suddenly brought pain and fear
on the people of Judah.
9 When the enemy attacked, a woman with seven sons felt faint because they would all die.
She became weak and unable to breathe.
Her bright day became dark from sadness.
She felt shame and disgrace.
And everyone else left alive in Judah
I will hand over to the enemies, too!” says the Lord.
7 The secret power of evil is already working in the world, but there is one who is stopping that power. And he will continue to stop it until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that Man of Evil will appear, and the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath that comes from his mouth and will destroy him with the glory of his coming. 9 The Man of Evil will come by the power of Satan. He will have great power, and he will do many different false miracles, signs, and wonders. 10 He will use every kind of evil to trick those who are lost. They will die, because they refused to love the truth. (If they loved the truth, they would be saved.) 11 For this reason God sends them something powerful that leads them away from the truth so they will believe a lie. 12 So all those will be judged guilty who did not believe the truth, but enjoyed doing evil.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.