Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
8 You pulled us out from Egypt,
like a vine that you dug out of the ground.
You chased nations out of this land,
and you planted us here.[a]
9 You prepared the ground ready for us.
We put down roots like a vine.[b]
We grew well and we covered all the land.
10 Our branches gave shade to the mountains,
and to the big cedar trees.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you knocked down the walls
that protected us?[c]
Now, anyone who passes can rob our fruit.
13 Wild pigs from the forest attack your vine.
Other wild animals eat all the fruit.
14 Come back to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven
and see what is happening!
Take care of your special vine.
15 You planted it with your own right hand.
You caused it to grow, like a strong son.[d]
23 ‘You say, “We have not made ourselves unclean.
We do not worship the idols of Baal.”
But remember what you have done in the valleys.[a]
You hurry to find another idol that you can worship.
Like a female camel, you cannot control yourselves.
24 You are like a wild female donkey that lives in the wilderness.
She lifts her nose to smell the air.
She wants to find a male donkey.
Nobody can control her.
Male donkeys do not have to chase her.
She will come to them to have sex with them.
You are like that as you chase after false gods.
25 Stop running after them!
Your feet will hurt and you will become very thirsty.
You say, “Do not try to stop us! We cannot turn back.
We love foreign gods and we must serve them!”
26 A robber is ashamed when people catch him.
The people of Israel will become ashamed like that.
They will all be ashamed of their sins.
Their kings, their officers, their priests and their prophets are all guilty.
27 They worship a piece of wood,
and they say, “You are my father.”
They say to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
They have not turned to come to me.
Instead, they have turned away from me.
But when trouble comes to them,
they call out to me to rescue them.
28 But where are the gods that you made for yourselves?
Ask them to save you when trouble comes!
You have enough gods to give you help.
Yes, people of Judah,
your gods are as many as your towns!
29 You cannot argue against me.
You have all turned against me.’
That is what the Lord says.
30 ‘When I punished your people,
they did not change how they lived.
When I sent my prophets to you,
you killed them as if you were a hungry lion.’
31 Listen to the Lord's message, you people who are alive today:
‘People of Israel, why do you not trust me?
Have I become like a desert for you?
Have I become a dark and dangerous land for you to live in?
No! But you say, “We are free to go where we like.
We do not need to serve you any more.”
32 A young woman does not forget to wear her jewels.
When a woman marries,
she does not forget to wear her special dress.
But for many years, my people have forgotten me.
33 You are very clever. You can always find someone to love.
Even prostitutes could learn something from you!
34 You have been cruel to poor people for no reason.
Your clothes have their blood on them!
They had not robbed you,
but you still killed them.
You have done all these bad things, but still you say,
35 “We have not done anything that is wrong.
God cannot be angry with us!”
Be careful! I will surely punish you,
because you say, “I am not guilty of any sin.”
36 You try to get help from other nations.
You run here and there to make new friends.
You hoped for help from Assyria,
but no help came.
And you will get no help from Egypt either.
37 You will come away from Egypt with your hands on your heads.
You will be ashamed and upset.
The Lord has turned away from those nations.
You have trusted them to help you,
But you will not receive any help from them.’
14 Whatever you are doing, do not complain. And do not argue. 15 Then you will not be guilty of anything that is wrong. You will be clean inside yourselves. You will be living in a completely good way, as God's children should. In this world, you are living among bad people who have turned away from what is good. But you must bring light into this dark place, like stars that shine in the night. 16 Tell people the true message that can give them life with God. Then I will know that my work among you had good results. Because of that, I will be very happy on the day when Christ returns.
17 You believe in Christ, and you are his servants. That is like you are offering yourselves as a sacrifice to God. Perhaps I will soon have to die. Then my blood would be like drink that I am pouring on your sacrifice, to please God. So, if I have to die now, I will be happy. And we should all be happy together. 18 Yes, it is right that you should be happy, and I will also be happy with you.
Christ is more important than anything
3 My Christian friends, there are a few more things that I want to say. You belong to the Lord, so be happy! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again. And it will help to keep you safe.
2 Be very careful! Some people are teaching bad things. They say that you must cut your bodies. They are like dangerous dogs. Do not believe them! 3 But we are truly God's people. And it is not because someone has circumcised us. It is God's own Spirit that leads us to worship God. We thank God because of what Christ Jesus has done for us. We know that it is not human ideas that can save us.[a]
4 For myself, I could have trusted those human ideas. Perhaps somebody may think that they could trust in those things to save them. Then I would have an even better reason to trust in them.
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