Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

For the director of music. To be played on stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the men from Ziph had gone to Saul. They had said, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

⁵ The king of Assyria marched into the whole land of Israel. He marched to Samaria and surrounded it for three years. From time to time he attacked it. ⁶ Finally, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. It was in the ninth year of Hoshea. The king of Assyria took the Israelites away from their own land. He sent them off to Assyria. He made some of them live in Halah. He made others live in Gozan on the Habor River. And he made others live in the towns of the Medes.

Israel Is Forced to Leave the Land Because of Sin

⁷ All of this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them up out of Egypt. He had brought them out from under the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But they worshiped other gods. ⁸ The Lord had driven out other nations to make room for Israel. But they followed the evil practices of those nations. They also followed the practices that the kings of Israel had started. ⁹ The Israelites did things in secret against the Lord their God. What they did wasn’t right. They built high places for worship in all their towns. They built them at lookout towers. They also built them at cities that had high walls around them. ¹⁰ They set up sacred stones. And they set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. They did that on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹ The Lord had driven out nations to make room for Israel. But the Israelites burned incense at every high place, just as those nations had done. The Israelites did evil things that made the Lord very angry. ¹² They worshiped statues of gods. They did it even though the Lord had said, “Do not do that.” ¹³ The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers. He said, “Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They refused to obey his rules. They broke the covenant he had made with them. They didn’t pay any attention to the rules he had warned them to keep. They worshiped worthless statues of gods. Then they themselves became worthless. They followed the example of the nations around them. They did it even though the Lord had ordered them not to. He had said, “Do not do as they do.”

¹⁶ They turned away from all the commands of the Lord their God. They made two statues of gods for themselves. The statues were shaped like calves. They made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. They bowed down to all the stars. And they worshiped the god named Baal. ¹⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced all kinds of evil magic. They gave up following God’s rules. They did only what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. All these things made him very angry.

¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel. He removed them from his land. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

²⁹ “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You build tombs for the prophets. You decorate the graves of the godly. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of those who lived before us, we wouldn’t have done what they did. We wouldn’t have helped to kill the prophets.’ ³¹ So you are witnesses against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets. ³² So go ahead and finish the sins that those who lived before you started!

³³ “You nest of poisonous snakes! How will you escape from being sentenced to hell? ³⁴ So I am sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers. You will kill some of them. You will nail some to a cross. Others you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town. ³⁵ So you will pay for all the godly people’s blood spilled on earth. I mean from the blood of godly Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Zechariah was the one you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ What I’m about to tell you is true. All this will happen to those who are now living.

³⁷ “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And you would not let me! ³⁸ Look, your house is left empty. ³⁹ I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” (Psalm 118:26)