Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 31[a]
Prayer of Trust and Thanksgiving
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
3 Turn your ear to me,
and act quickly to save me.
Be to me a rock[d] of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
4 You are truly my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name,[e] lead and guide me.
5 Deliver me from the snare that has been set for me,
for you are my refuge.
19 Let their lying lips be struck dumb,
lips that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
20 [a]How great is your goodness, O Lord,
which you have stored up[b] for those who fear you
and which you bestow on those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of all the people.
21 You hide them in the safety of your presence
from those who conspire against them;
you keep them safe in your shelter,
far away from contentious tongues.
22 Blessed[c] be the Lord,
for he has manifested his wondrous kindness to me
when I was under siege.
23 I had cried out in terror,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my plea
when I cried out to you for assistance.
24 Love the Lord, all his saints.[d]
The Lord protects his loyal servants,
but the arrogant he repays beyond measure.
Chapter 30
God’s Forgiveness and Blessing. 1 When all of these blessings and curses come upon you that I have set before you and you call them to mind wherever you are dispersed among all of the nations, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord, your God, and you obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and all your soul, 3 then the Lord, your God, will have compassion on you in your captivity, and he will bring you back, gathering you from all the nations where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. 4 The Lord, your God, will gather and fetch you back, even if your exiles are in the outermost parts of the heavens. 5 The Lord, your God, will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed so that you might possess it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
The Word of God Has Not Proved False. 6 It is not as though the word of God has proved false. For not all who were Israelites truly belong to Israel, 7 and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that descendants will bear your name.”
8 In other words, it is not through physical descent that people are regarded as children of God. Rather, the children of the promise are those who are counted as descendants. 9 For this is how the promise was worded: “About this time next year I shall return, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 And not only that, but Rebekah became pregnant by one man, her husband Isaac. 11 Yet even before her children had been born or done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might prevail, 12 dependent not on human works but on his call, she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written,
“I loved Jacob,
but Esau I hated.”[a]
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