Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Lament over defeat in battle, and prayer for help.
For the Chief Musician; set to [a]Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.
60 O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down;
Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.
2 Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it:
Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast showed thy people hard things:
Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [b]us.
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [c]sceptre.
8 Moab is my washpot;
[d]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe:
Philistia, shout thou because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city?
[e]Who hath led me unto Edom?
10 [f]Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
11 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [g]help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly;
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
13 When Ephraim [a]spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he [b]offended in Baal, he died. 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let [c]the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou [d]shalt know no god but me, and besides me there is no saviour. 5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. 6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. 7 Therefore am I unto them as a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way; 8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.
9 [e]It is thy destruction, O Israel, [f]that thou art against me, against thy help. 10 Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? 11 I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store. 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; [g]for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children. 14 I will ransom them from the [h]power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, [i]where are thy plagues? O Sheol, [j]where is thy destruction? repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the [k]breath of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: [l]he shall make spoil of the treasure of all goodly vessels. 16 Samaria shall [m]bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
2 Continue stedfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; 3 withal praying for us also, that God may open unto us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, [a]redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one.
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