Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ I will hear what the True God—the Eternal—will say,
    for He will speak peace over His people,
    peace over those who faithfully follow Him, [but do not let them abuse His gift and return to foolish ways].^[a]
9 Without a doubt, His salvation is near for those who revere Him
    so that He will be with us again and all His glory will fill this land.

¹⁰ Unfailing love and truth have met on their way;
    righteousness and peace have kissed one another.
¹¹ Truth will spring from the earth like a plant,
    and justice will look down from the sky.
¹² Yes, the Eternal will plant goodness in the earth,
    and our land will yield great abundance.
¹³ Justice will come before Him,
    marking out a path, setting a way for His feet.

Eternal One: For three crimes of Israel,
        no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
    Because they have sold the right-living for silver
        and the poor and their property for a pair of sandals.
⁷     They have trampled the heads of the weak into the dirt
        and pushed the oppressed even further down.
    A father and his son sleep with the same girl,
        trampling My holy name in the process.
⁸     And the religious lie beside every altar
        on garments taken as collateral from their debtors;
    And in the house of their pagan god, they drink
        wine bought with the fines they have imposed on others.

⁹     Still I destroyed all of Canaan’s Amorites before them,
        those Canaanites who were as tall as the towering cedars,
        as strong as the mighty oaks.
    As entrenched as they were, I still destroyed their fruit above
        and their roots underneath My promised land.
¹⁰     And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt
        and led you safely through 40 years of wilderness wandering
        to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
¹¹     I took some of your children and raised them up as prophets,
        and I called some of your youth to be Nazirites, set aside to My service.
    Isn’t this true, people of Israel?

¹² Eternal One: But you made the Nazirites break their vows and drink wine.
        You told the prophets, “Don’t you dare prophesy!”

¹³     I will press you down beneath your enemies, just as a wagon full of fresh grain creaks
        and groans beneath its own weight.
¹⁴     The swift will lose their speed; there will be no escape;
        the strong will lose his strength; the warrior will not survive the battle;
¹⁵     The archer will not be able to stand his ground and aim his arrows.
        Even the fastest runner will not escape, nor will the one who rides on horseback.
¹⁶     The bravest and strongest soldiers will throw down their weapons
        and run naked for cover on that day.