Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 “The Lord is merciful and compassionate,
very patient, and full of faithful love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone and everything;
God’s compassion extends to all his handiwork!”
14 The Lord supports all who fall down,
straightens up all who are bent low.
15 All eyes look to you, hoping,
and you give them their food right on time,
16 opening your hand
and satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways,
faithful in all his deeds.
18 The Lord is close to everyone who calls out to him,
to all who call out to him sincerely.
19 God shows favor to those who honor him,
listening to their cries for help and saving them.
20 The Lord protects all who love him,
but he destroys every wicked person.
21 My mouth will proclaim the Lord’s praise,
and every living thing will bless God’s holy name
forever and always.
Wake yourself, Jerusalem
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself!
Rise up, Jerusalem,
who drank the cup of wrath from the Lord’s hand.
You drank; you drained the goblet of reeling.
18 There’s no one to guide her among all the children she bore;
there’s no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised.
19 These two things have happened to you—
Who will be sorry for you?[a]—
destruction and devastation,
famine and sword—
who will comfort you?[b]
20 Your children passed out;
they lay at the head of every street like antelope in a net,
filled with the Lord’s wrath,
with the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, hear this, suffering one,
who is drunk, but not from wine.
22 The Lord, your Lord and your God,
who contends for his people, says:
Look, I have taken the cup of reeling,
the goblet of my wrath, from your hand.
You will no longer drink from it.
23 I will put it in the hand of your tormentors,
who said to you,
“Lie down so that we can walk on you.
Make your back like the ground,
like a street for those walking on it.”
Israel and God’s choice
6 But it’s not as though God’s word has failed. Not all who are descended from Israel are part of Israel. 7 Not all of Abraham’s children are called Abraham’s descendants, but instead your descendants will be named through Isaac.[a] 8 That means it isn’t the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children from the promise who are counted as descendants. 9 The words in the promise were: A year from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.[b]
10 Not only that, but also Rebecca conceived children with one man, our ancestor Isaac. 11 When they hadn’t been born yet and when they hadn’t yet done anything good or bad, it was shown that God’s purpose would continue because it was based on his choice. 12 It wasn’t because of what was done but because of God’s call. This was said to her: The older child will be a slave to the younger one.[c] 13 As it is written, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.[d]
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible