Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
II
7 “Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will not take a bullock from your house,
or he-goats from your folds.(A)
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
11 I know every bird in the heights;
whatever moves in the wild is mine.
12 Were I hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine is the world and all that fills it.(B)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of he-goats?
14 Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;(C)
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then call on me on the day of distress;(D)
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.”
7 Jerusalem remembers
in days of wretched homelessness,
All the precious things she once had
in days gone by.
But when her people fell into the hands of the foe,
and she had no help,
Her foes looked on and laughed
at her collapse.
8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously,
therefore she has become a mockery;
Those who honored her now demean her,
for they saw her nakedness;
She herself groans out loud,
and turns away.(A)
9 Her uncleanness is on her skirt;
she has no thought of her future.
Her downfall is astonishing,
with no one to comfort her.
“Look, O Lord, at my misery;
how the enemy triumphs!”[a]
10 The foe stretched out his hands
to all her precious things;
She has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
Those you forbade to come
into your assembly.(B)
11 All her people groan,
searching for bread;
They give their precious things for food,
to retain the breath of life.
“Look, O Lord, and pay attention
to how I have been demeaned!
17 These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a gale; for them the gloom of darkness has been reserved.(A) 18 For, talking empty bombast, they seduce with licentious desires of the flesh those who have barely escaped[a] from people who live in error.(B) 19 They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him.(C) 20 For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of [our] Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first.(D) 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment handed down[b] to them.(E) 22 [c]What is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them,(F) “The dog returns to its own vomit,” and “A bathed sow returns to wallowing in the mire.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.