Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

25 To you, O Lord, I pray. ² Don’t fail me, Lord, for I am trusting you. Don’t let my enemies succeed. Don’t give them victory over me. ³ None of those who have faith in God will ever be disgraced for trusting him. But all who harm the innocent shall be defeated.

⁴ Show me the path where I should go, O Lord; point out the right road for me to walk. ⁵ Lead me; teach me; for you are the God who gives me salvation. I have no hope except in you. ^6-7 Overlook my youthful sins, O Lord! Look at me instead through eyes of mercy and forgiveness, through eyes of everlasting love and kindness.

⁸ The Lord is good and glad to teach the proper path to all who go astray; ⁹ he will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to him.

¹⁷ Then this message came to me from the Lord:

¹⁸ “Son of dust, tremble as you eat your meals; ration out your water as though it were your last, ¹⁹ and say to the people, the Lord God says that the people of Israel and Jerusalem shall ration their food with utmost care and sip their tiny portions of water in utter despair because of all their sins. ²⁰ Your cities shall be destroyed and your farmlands deserted, and you shall know I am the Lord.”

²¹ Again a message came to me from the Lord:

²² “Son of dust, what is that proverb they quote in Israel—‘The days as they pass make liars out of every prophet.’ ²³ The Lord God says: I will put an end to this proverb and they will soon stop saying it. Give them this one instead: ‘The time has come for all these prophecies to be fulfilled.’

²⁴ “Then you will see what becomes of all the false predictions of safety and security for Jerusalem. ²⁵ For I am the Lord! What I threaten always happens. There will be no more delays, O rebels of Israel! I will do it in your own lifetime!” says the Lord God.

²⁶ Then this message came:

²⁷ “Son of dust, the people of Israel say, ‘His visions won’t come true for a long, long time.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them: ‘The Lord God says: All delay has ended! I will do it now!’”

¹¹ Don’t criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God’s law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it. ¹² Only he who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?

¹³ Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business.” ¹⁴ How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog—now you see it; soon it is gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you will be bragging about your own plans, and such self-confidence never pleases God.