Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 32
How Blessed Is the Person Whose Rebellion Is Forgiven
Heading
By David. A maskil.[a]
The Joy of Forgiveness
1 How blessed is the person
whose rebellion is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 How blessed is the person
whose guilt the Lord does not charge against him,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Obtaining the Joy of Forgiveness
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away as I groaned all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me. Interlude
My moisture was dried up by the droughts of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover up my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord,” Interlude
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Because of this, let everyone who receives favor pray to you
at a time when you may be found.
Surely when the mighty waters overflow,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place.
You will protect me from distress. Interlude
You will surround me with shouts of deliverance.
The Caption
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Warning to a Sinful Nation
2 Hear this, O heavens,
and listen, O earth, for the Lord has spoken.
I have raised children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey knows its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know.
My people do not understand.
4 How terrible it will be for that sinful nation,
for a people loaded with guilt,
offspring[a] who act wickedly,
children who are corrupt!
They have forsaken the Lord.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel.
They have deserted him and turned back.
5 Why do you keep earning more beatings?
Why do you continue to rebel?
Your whole head is wounded.
Your whole heart is weak.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is nothing healthy,
but only wounds, welts, and open sores.
Your wounds have not been cleaned or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.
7 Your country is desolate.
Your cities are burned with fire.
Foreigners devour your farmland right in front of your eyes,
and it is desolate, overthrown by foreigners.
8 The daughter of Zion[b] is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a melon[c] field,
like a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of Armies[d] had left us a small surviving remnant,
we would have been like Sodom;
we would have become just like Gomorrah.
39 “Our father is Abraham!” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard at the side of God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You are doing the works of your father.”
“We were not born of sexual immorality!” they said. “We have one Father: God.”
42 Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. Indeed, I have not come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand my message? It is because you are not able to listen to my word. 44 You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not remain standing in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks from what is his, because he is a liar and the father of lying. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who of you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you do not listen is that you do not belong to God.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.