Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 Restore us, God of Armies;
make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.(A)
8 You dug up 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 Boars from the forest tear at it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(G)
14 Return, God of Armies.(H)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[d] your right hand planted,
the son[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 water of the Nile?[b]
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria(F)
to drink the water of the Euphrates?(G)
19 Your own evil will discipline you;(H)
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Recognize[c] 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 Armies.
20 For long ago I[d] broke your yoke;(J)
I[e] tore off your chains.
You insisted, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree(K)
you lay 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] Christ.(F) 18 Let no one condemn[c] you(G) by delighting in ascetic practices(H) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated(I) by empty notions of their unspiritual[d] mind. 19 They don’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(J) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
20 If you died with Christ(K) to the elements 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 destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom(L) by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[e](M)
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