Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A psalm of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Use your strength,
and come to save us.
8 You brought us out of Egypt as if we were a vine.
You forced out other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the ground for us.
Like a vine, we took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had limbs like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you pull down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by steals from us.
13 Like wild pigs they walk over us;
like wild animals they feed on us.
14 God All-Powerful, come back.
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this shoot with your own hands
and strengthened this child.
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire;
you destroyed us by your angry looks.
17 With your hand,
strengthen the one you have chosen for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God All-Powerful, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
God Will Punish Judah and Jerusalem
3 Understand this:
The Lord God All-Powerful
will take away everything Judah and Jerusalem need—
all the food and water,
2 the heroes and great soldiers,
the judges and prophets,
people who do magic and elders,
3 the military leaders and government leaders,
the counselors, the skilled craftsmen, and those who try to tell the future.
4 The Lord says, “I will cause young boys to be your leaders,
and foolish children will rule over you.
5 People will be against each other; everyone will be against his neighbor.
Young people will not respect older people,
and common people will not respect important people.”
6 At that time a man will grab one of his brothers
from his own family and say,
“You have a coat, so you will be our leader.
These ruins will be under your control.”
7 But that brother will stand up and say,
“I cannot help you,
because I do not have food or clothes in my house.
You will not make me your leader.”
8 This will happen because Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen.
The things they say and do are against the Lord;
they turn against him.
9 The look on their faces shows they are guilty;
like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin.
They don’t care who sees it.
How terrible it will be for them,
because they have brought much trouble on themselves.
10 Tell those who do what is right that things will go well for them,
because they will receive a reward for what they do.
11 But how terrible it will be for the wicked!
They will be punished for all the wrong they have done.
12 Children treat my people cruelly,
and women rule over them.
My people, your guides lead you in the wrong way
and turn you away from what is right.
13 The Lord takes his place in court
and stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord presents his case
against the elders and other leaders of his people:
“You have burned the vineyard.
Your houses are full of what you took from the poor.
15 What gives you the right to crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor into the dirt?”
The Lord God All-Powerful says this.
A Warning to Women of Jerusalem
16 The Lord says,
“The women of Jerusalem are proud.
They walk around with their heads held high,
and they flirt with their eyes.
They take quick, short steps,
making noise with their ankle bracelets.”
17 So the Lord will put sores on the heads of those women in Jerusalem,
and he will make them lose their hair.
32 Remember those days in the past when you first learned the truth. You had a hard struggle with many sufferings, but you continued strong. 33 Sometimes you were hurt and attacked before crowds of people, and sometimes you shared with those who were being treated that way. 34 You helped the prisoners. You even had joy when all that you owned was taken from you, because you knew you had something better and more lasting.
35 So do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has a great reward. 36 You must hold on, so you can do what God wants and receive what he has promised. 37 For in a very short time,
“The One who is coming will come
and will not be delayed.
38 Those who are right with me
will live by faith.
But if they turn back with fear,
I will not be pleased with them.” Habakkuk 2:3–4
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. We are people who have faith and are saved.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.