Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 The Lord is loving and merciful,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He is good to everyone
and has compassion on all he made.
14 He helps those who are in trouble;
he lifts those who have fallen.
15 All living things look hopefully to you,
and you give them food when they need it.
16 You give them enough
and satisfy the needs of all.
17 The Lord is righteous in all he does,
merciful in all his acts.
18 He is near to those who call to him,
who call to him with sincerity.
19 He supplies the needs of those who honor him;
he hears their cries and saves them.
20 He protects everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy the wicked.
21 I will always praise the Lord;
let all his creatures praise his holy name forever.
The End of Jerusalem's Suffering
17 (A)Jerusalem, wake up!
Rouse yourself and get up!
You have drunk the cup of punishment
that the Lord in his anger gave you to drink;
you drank it down, and it made you stagger.
18 There is no one to lead you,
no one among your people
to take you by the hand.
19 A double disaster has fallen on you:
your land has been devastated by war,
and your people have starved.
There is no one to show you sympathy.
20 At the corner of every street
your people collapse from weakness;
they are like deer caught in a hunter's net.
They have felt the force of God's anger.
21 You suffering people of Jerusalem,
you that stagger as though you were drunk,
22 the Lord your God defends you and says,
“I am taking away the cup
that I gave you in my anger.
You will no longer have to drink
the wine that makes you stagger.
23 I will give it to those who oppressed you,
to those who made you lie down in the streets
and trampled on you as if you were dirt.”
6 I am not saying that the promise of God has failed; for not all the people of Israel are the people of God. 7 (A)Nor are all of Abraham's descendants the children of God. God said to Abraham, “It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised you.” 8 This means that the children born in the usual way[a] are not the children of God; instead, the children born as a result of God's promise are regarded as the true descendants. 9 (B)For God's promise was made in these words: “At the right time[b] I will come back, and Sarah will have a son.”
10 And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac. 11-12 (C)But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done. 13 (D)As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.