Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
141 Quick, Lord, answer me—for I have prayed. Listen when I cry to you for help! 2 Regard my prayer as my evening sacrifice and as incense wafting up to you.
3 Help me, Lord, to keep my mouth shut and my lips sealed. 4 Take away my lust for evil things; don’t let me want to be with sinners, doing what they do, sharing their delicacies. 5 Let the godly smite me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is medicine! Don’t let me refuse it. But I am in constant prayer against the wicked and their deeds. 6-7 When their leaders are condemned, and their bones are strewn across the ground,[a] then these men will finally listen to me and know that I am trying to help them.
8 I look to you for help, O Lord God. You are my refuge. Don’t let them slay me. 9 Keep me out of their traps. 10 Let them fall into their own snares, while I escape.
14 Again a message came from the Lord:
15 “Son of dust, the remnant left in Jerusalem are saying about your brother exiles: ‘It is because they were so wicked that the Lord has deported them. Now the Lord has given us their land!’
16 “But tell the exiles that the Lord God says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, yet I will be a sanctuary to you for the time that you are there, 17 and I will gather you back from the nations where you are scattered and give you the land of Israel again. 18 And when you return, you will remove every trace of all this idol worship. 19 I will give you one heart and a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God, 20 so that you can obey my laws and be my people, and I will be your God. 21 But as for those now in Jerusalem[a] who long for idols, I will repay them fully for their sins,” the Lord God says.
22 Then the Guardian Angels lifted their wings and rose into the air with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel stood above them. 23 Then the glory of the Lord rose from over the city and stood above the mountain on the east side.
24 Afterwards the Spirit of God carried me back again to Babylon, to the Jews in exile there. And so ended the vision of my visit to Jerusalem. 25 And I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.
25 Stop lying to each other; tell the truth, for we are parts of each other and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves. 26 If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry—get over it quickly; 27 for when you are angry, you give a mighty foothold to the devil.
28 If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so he can give to others in need. 29 Don’t use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing.
30 Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.[a]
31 Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ.
5 Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father. 2 Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.