Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated 12,000 Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Fix its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can escape the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
12 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
The Final Word Against Israel
13 People used to fear the tribe of Ephraim.
They were important people in Israel.
But they sinned by worshiping Baal.
So they must die.
2 But they keep on sinning more and more.
They make idols of their silver.
Those idols are cleverly made.
They are the work of a craftsman.
Yet the people of Israel say to each other,
“Kiss those calf idols and sacrifice to them.”
3 So those people will be like the morning dew.
They will disappear like the morning mist.
They will be like chaff blown from the threshing floor.
They will vanish away like smoke rising from a chimney.
4 “I have been the Lord their God
since they were in the land of Egypt.
They have really known no other God except me.
I am the one who has saved them.
5 I cared for them in the desert
where it was hot and dry.
6 I gave them food, and they became full and satisfied.
But then they became proud and forgot me.
7 That is why I will be like a lion to them.
I will be like a leopard waiting by the road.
8 I will attack like a bear robbed of her cubs.
I will rip their bodies open.
I will devour them like a lion.
I will tear them apart like a wild animal.
9 “Israel, I will destroy you
for turning against me, your helper.
10 What good are your kings and your leaders now?
Can they save you in any of your towns?
You asked for them, saying,
‘Give us a king and leaders.’
11 So I gave you kings, but only in anger.
And I took them away in my great anger.
12 The sins of Israel are on record.
They are filed away, waiting for punishment.
13 Israel has a chance to live again,
but the people are too foolish to take it.
They are like an unborn baby
who won’t come out of its mother’s womb.
14 So I will not save them from the place where the dead are.
I will not rescue them from death.
I will call on death to hurt them.
I will call on the place where the dead are to destroy them.
I will show them no mercy.
15 Israel has become important among the nations.
But the Lord will send a destroyer from the east.
He will come like a wind from the desert
that dries up all the springs and wells of water.
He will destroy all their treasures,
everything of value.
16 The nation of Israel will be punished,
because it fought against God.
The people of Israel will die by the sword.
Their children will be torn to pieces.
And their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
What the Christians Are to Do
2 Continue praying and keep alert. And when you pray, always thank God. 3 Also pray for us. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to tell people his message. Pray that we can preach the secret truth that God has made known about Christ. I am in prison because I preach this truth. 4 Pray that I can speak in a way that will make it clear as I should.
5 Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers. Use your time in the best way you can. 6 When you talk, you should always be kind and wise. Then you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.