Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer of Faith in Troubled Times
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
31 Lord, I trust in you;
let me never be disgraced.
Save me because you do what is right.
2 Listen to me
and save me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a strong city to save me.
3 You are my rock and my protection.
For the good of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 Set me free from the trap they set for me,
because you are my protection.
5 I give you my life.
Save me, Lord, God of truth.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you have given to those who trust you.
You do this for all to see.
20 You protect them by your presence
from what people plan against them.
You shelter them from evil words.
21 Praise the Lord.
His love to me was wonderful
when my city was attacked.
22 In my distress, I said,
“God cannot see me!”
But you heard my prayer
when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you who belong to him.
The Lord protects those who truly believe,
but he punishes the proud as much as they have sinned.
24 All you who put your hope in the Lord
be strong and brave.
The Israelites Will Return
30 When all these blessings and curses I have described happen to you, and the Lord your God has sent you away to other nations, think about these things. 2 Then you and your children will return to the Lord your God, and you will obey him with your whole being in everything I am commanding you today. 3 Then the Lord your God will give you back your freedom. He will feel sorry for you, and he will bring you back again from the nations where he scattered you. 4 He may send you to the ends of the earth, but he will gather you and bring you back from there, 5 back to the land that belonged to your ancestors. It will be yours. He will give you success, and there will be more of you than there were of your ancestors.
6 It is not that God failed to keep his promise to them. But only some of the people of Israel are truly God’s people,[a] 7 and only some of Abraham’s[b] descendants are true children of Abraham. But God said to Abraham: “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.”[c] 8 This means that not all of Abraham’s descendants are God’s true children. Abraham’s true children are those who become God’s children because of the promise God made to Abraham. 9 God’s promise to Abraham was this: “At the right time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”[d] 10 And that is not all. Rebekah’s sons had the same father, our father Isaac. 11-12 But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.”[e] This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did. 13 As the Scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”[f]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.