Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 How very kind the Lord is!
He is very patient and his faithful love continues.
9 It is the Lord who takes care of everybody.
He is kind to everything that he has made.
14 Often people fall, but the Lord lifts them up.
He helps everyone who has trouble.
15 People look to you for help.
You give them food when they need it.
16 Ready to help, you open your hand.
You give to every living thing the good things that they want.
17 So the Lord is fair in all that he does.
He always shows how much he loves us.
18 The Lord is ready to help everyone who asks him.
He is near to everyone who prays honestly.
19 Very kindly he gives his own people the things that they need.
He saves them when they call to him for help.
20 Whoever loves the Lord, he keeps safe.
But he destroys wicked people.
21 Yes, I will praise the Lord!
Everyone who lives should praise his holy name for ever!
17 Wake up, people in Jerusalem! Get ready!
The Lord has been angry with you,
and he has punished you.
You had to receive all of his anger,
like you were drinking strong wine from a cup.
Now that you have drunk it all,
you cannot stand up straight!
18 Among all of Jerusalem's people,
there was nobody left to be your leader.
There was nobody who could take care of you.
19 War and famine have destroyed you.
Both those terrible things have happened to you.
Who feels sorry for you?
Who is there to comfort you?
20 Your children have become weak,
and they lie on the ground at the side of every street.
They are like deer that a trap has caught.
The anger of the Lord your God has made them helpless.
He has warned them loudly.
21 So listen to this, you people who are in trouble.
You walk like drunk people,
but wine has not done that to you.
22 The Lord God who is your Lord stands beside his people. He says,
‘Look! Now I have taken the cup of my punishment out of your hand.
You will no longer have to drink the strong wine of my anger
that makes you drunk.
23 Instead, I will give it to your cruel enemies
to punish them.
They said to you, “Lie down on the ground,
so that we can walk over you.”
You made your backs become like the ground.
You became like a street for your enemies to walk on.’
6 God promised good things to Israel's people. But I am not saying that what God promised did not happen. It is clear that not all of Israel's people are God's true people. 7 Not all of them are true descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham, ‘It is only Isaac that I will call the father of your descendants.’
8 This means that not all of Abraham's children are really God's children. It is only those children who were born as a result of God's promise. Only they are the people that God calls true descendants. 9 This is what God promised to Abraham: ‘At this time next year I will come back. Then Sarah, your wife, will have a son.’[a]
10 Remember this too: Later, Isaac's wife, Rebekah, gave birth to twins. Those two sons had the same father, who was our ancestor, Isaac. 11 And God spoke to Rebekah before her sons were born. God spoke before the boys had done anything either good or bad. God did this to show clearly that he himself was choosing one child. He was not choosing someone because of what that person had done. He himself decided who he would choose. 12 God said to Rebekah, ‘The older son will serve the younger son.’ 13 This is written in the Bible: ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’[b]
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