Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Guidance and Protection
For the music director; with the flutes. A psalm of David.[a]
5 Hear my words, O Yahweh.
Give heed to my sighing.[b]
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading,[c] my king and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice.
In the morning I will set forth[d] my case to you and I will watch.[e]
4 For you are not a God who desires[f] wickedness.
Evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful do not stand before[g] your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy speakers of lies.[h]
A man of bloodshed[i] and deceit Yahweh abhors.
7 But as for me,[j] through the abundance of your steadfast love[k]
I will enter your house.[l]
I will bow down[m] toward your holy temple[n] in awe of you.
8 O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make straight before me your way.
9 For there is not anything reliable in his mouth;
their inner part is destruction.[o]
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.[p]
10 Treat them as guilty, O God;
let them fall because of their plans.
Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take shelter in you rejoice.
Let them ever[q] sing for joy,
because[r] you spread protection over them;
And let those[s] who love your name exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous.
O Yahweh, like a[t] shield you surround him with good favor.
18 “But even in those days,” declares[a] Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 And then,[b] when you people say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all of these things to us?’ Then you will say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that does not belong to you.’[c]
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Hear this please, O foolish and senseless[d] people,
who have eyes[e] but do not see,
who have ears[f] but do not hear.’
22 Do you not revere me?” declares[g] Yahweh,
“Do you not tremble before me?[h]
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
as an everlasting limit,[i] and it cannot pass over it,
and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail,
and its waves roar, but they cannot pass over it.
23 But for this people is a stubborn and rebellious heart,
they have turned aside and have gone away.
24 And they do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear please Yahweh our God,
the one who gives the autumn rain[j] and the spring rain[k] in its season,
the set times of the harvest[l] he keeps for us.’
25 Your iniquities have disturbed these,
and your sins have kept away the good from you.
26 For wicked people are found among my people,
they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers,
they set up a trap,
they catch humans.
27 Like a cage full of birds,[m]
so their houses are full of fraud.
Therefore[n] they have become great,
and they have become rich.
28 They have grown fat,
they have grown sleek,
also, their evil deeds have no limit.[o]
They do not judge with justice,
the legal cause of the orphan,
or allow it to succeed,
and the legal case of the poor,
they do not defend.
29 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares[p] Yahweh,
“and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
30 A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,[q]
and the priests rule by their own authority,[r]
and my people love it[s] so much.
But what will you do when the end comes?[t]
The Thessalonians’ Response to Paul’s Message
13 And because of this we also give thanks to God constantly, that when you[a] received God’s word that you heard[b] from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe. 14 For you became imitators, brothers, of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own people, just as they themselves did also at the hands of the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who persecuted us, and who are not pleasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles in order that they may be saved, so that they always fill up their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the end.[c]
Paul’s Desire to Revisit the Thessalonians
17 But when[d] we were made orphans by separation from you, brothers, for a short time[e] (in face, not in heart), we were even more eager with great desire to see your face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, on more than one occasion[f]—and Satan hindered us. 19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
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