Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in you;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;(C)
you lead and guide me
for your name’s sake.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for you are my refuge.(E)
5 Into your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
you have redeemed me,[a] Lord, God of truth.(G)
19 How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you.
In the presence of everyone[a] you have acted
for those who take refuge in you.(A)
20 You hide them in the protection of your presence;(B)
you conceal them in a shelter
from human schemes,
from quarrelsome tongues.(C)
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his faithful love to me
in a city under siege.(D)
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight.”(E)
But you heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to you for help.(F)
Returning to the Lord
30 “When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you,(A) 2 and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul(B) by doing[a] everything I am commanding you today, 3 then he will restore your fortunes,[b](C) have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.(D) 4 Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there.(E) 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it.(F) He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your ancestors.(G)
God’s Gracious Election of Israel
6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed,(A) because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.(B) 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants.[a](C) On the contrary, your offspring will be traced[b] through Isaac.[c](D) 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent[d] who are God’s children,(E) but the children of the promise(F) are considered to be the offspring. 9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.[e](G) 10 And not only that,(H) but Rebekah conceived children(I) through one man, our father Isaac. 11 For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand(J)— 12 not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.[f](K) 13 As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau.[g](L)
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