Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
O Yahweh, Do Not Delay
For the choir director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.
Yahweh Speaks Against Israel
3 Hear this word which Yahweh has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire [a](A)family which [b]He brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2 “(B)You only have I known among all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will [c](C)punish you for all your iniquities.”
3 Do two men walk together unless they have made an [d]appointment?
4 Does a (D)lion roar in the forest when it has no prey?
Does a young lion give forth its voice from its den unless it has captured something?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no [e]bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?
6 If a (E)trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?
If a (F)calamity happens in a city has not Yahweh done it?
7 [f]Surely Lord Yahweh does nothing
Unless He (G)reveals His secret counsel
To His slaves the prophets.
8 A (H)lion has roared! Who will not fear?
(I)Lord Yahweh has spoken! (J)Who can but prophesy?
9 Make it heard on the citadels in (K)Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Gather yourselves on the (L)mountains of Samaria and see the great confusions within her and the (M)oppressions in her midst. 10 But they (N)do not know how to do what is right,” declares Yahweh, “these who (O)hoard up [g]violence and devastation in their citadels.”
11 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh,
“An (P)adversary, even one surrounding the land,
Will pull down your [h]strength from you,
And your (Q)citadels will be plundered.”
12 Thus says Yahweh,
13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard [a]a voice from the [b]four (A)horns of the (B)golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (C)four angels who have been bound at the (D)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels were (E)released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a (F)third of [c]mankind. 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was (G)two hundred million; (H)I heard the number of them. 17 And [d]this is how I saw (I)in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of [e](J)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (K)out of their mouths come fire and smoke and [f](L)brimstone. 18 A (M)third of [g]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (N)fire and the smoke and the [h]brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.
20 And the rest of [i]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (O)did not repent of (P)the works of their hands, so as not to (Q)worship demons, and (R)the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they (S)did not repent of their murders nor of their (T)sorceries nor of their (U)sexual immorality nor of their thefts.
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