Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 [a]I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will (A)speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
And may they not (B)turn back to [b]foolishness.
9 Certainly (C)His salvation is near to those who [c]fear Him,
That (D)glory may dwell in our land.
10 (E)Graciousness and [d]truth have met together;
(F)Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 [e]Truth (G)sprouts from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Indeed, (H)the Lord will give what is good,
And our (I)land will yield its produce.
13 (J)Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.
The Response to God’s Rebuke
6 “(A)Come, let’s return to the Lord.
For (B)He has torn us, but (C)He will heal us;
He has [a]wounded us, but He will (D)bandage us.
2 He will (E)revive us after two days;
He will (F)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
3 So let’s (G)learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
His (H)appearance is as sure as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the (I)rain,
As the spring rain waters the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, (J)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, Judah?
For your loyalty is like a (K)morning cloud,
And like the dew which goes away early.
5 Therefore I have (L)cut them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the (M)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that [b]shines.
6 For (N)I [c]desire loyalty (O)rather than sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
2 (A)We always give thanks to God for all of you, (B)making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly keeping in mind your (C)work of faith and labor of (D)love and [a](E)perseverance of hope [b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of (F)our God and Father, 4 knowing, (G)brothers and sisters, beloved by God, (H)His choice of you; 5 for our (I)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also (J)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with (K)full conviction; just as you know (L)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. 6 You also became (M)imitators of us and of the Lord, (N)having received (O)the word during great affliction with the (P)joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in (Q)Macedonia and (R)Achaia. 8 For (S)the word of the Lord has (T)sounded forth from you, not only in (U)Macedonia and (V)Achaia, but (W)in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us [c]as to the kind of (X)reception we had with you, and how you (Y)turned to God (Z)from [d]idols to serve [e](AA)a living and true God, 10 and to (AB)wait for His Son from [f]heaven, whom He (AC)raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who (AD)rescues us from (AE)the wrath to come.
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