Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ I will listen to God the Lord.
    He has ordered peace for his people who worship him.
    Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
⁹ God will soon save those who respect him.
    And his greatness will be seen in our land.
¹⁰ Love and truth will belong to God’s people.
    Goodness and peace will be theirs.
¹¹ On earth people will be loyal to God.
    And God’s goodness will shine down from heaven.
¹² The Lord will give his goodness.
    And the land will give its crops.
¹³ Goodness will go before God
    and prepare the way for him.

“For the many crimes Israel is doing,
    I will punish them.
For silver they sell people who have done nothing wrong.
    They sell poor people for the price of a pair of sandals.
⁷ They walk on poor people
    as if they were dirt.
    They refuse to be fair to those who are suffering.
Fathers and sons have physical relations with the same woman.
    By doing this they ruin my holy name.
⁸ As they worship at their altars,
    they lie down on clothes taken from poor people.
They make people pay money as punishment.
    With that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.

⁹ “But it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them.
    The Amorites were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oaks.
But I destroyed them completely.
¹⁰ It was I who brought you from the land of Egypt.
    For 40 years I led you through the desert.
    I led you so I could give you the land of the Amorites.
¹¹ I made some of your sons to be prophets.
    I made some of your young men to be Nazirites.
People of Israel, isn’t this true?” says the Lord.
¹² “But you made the Nazirites drink wine.
    You told the prophets not to prophesy my message.
¹³ Now I will crush you
    as a wagon loaded with grain crushes anything beneath it.
¹⁴ No one will escape, not even the fastest runner.
    Strong men will not be strong enough.
    Warriors will not be able to save themselves.
¹⁵ Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight.
    Even soldiers who run quickly will not get away.
    Soldiers on horses will not escape alive.
¹⁶ At that time even the bravest warriors
    will run away without their armor,” says the Lord.