Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise God Who Helps the Weak
146 Praise the Lord!
My whole being, praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes
or other people, who cannot save you.
4 When people die, they are buried.
Then all of their plans come to an end.
5 Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.
Their hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in it.
He remains loyal forever.
7 The Lord does what is fair for those who have been wronged.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up people who are in trouble.
The Lord loves those who do right.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners.
He defends the orphans and widows.
But he overthrows the wicked.
10 The Lord will be King forever.
Jerusalem, your God is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
14 The Lord says, “For a long time I have said nothing.
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now I will cry out.
I will strain like a woman giving birth to a child.
15 I will destroy the hills and mountains.
I will dry up all the plants that grow there.
I will make the rivers become dry land.
I will dry up the pools of water.
16 Then I will lead the blind along a way they never knew.
I will guide them along paths they have not known.
I will make the darkness become light for them.
And I will make the rough ground smooth.
These are the things I will do.
I will not leave my people.
17 But some people trust in idols.
They say to their statues,
‘You are our gods.’
Those people will be rejected in disgrace.
Israel Refused to Listen to God
18 “You who are deaf, hear me.
You who are blind, look and see.
19 No one is more blind than my servant Israel.
The messenger I send is the most deaf.
No one is more blind than the person I own.
No one is more blind than the servant of the Lord.
20 Israel, you have seen much, but you have not obeyed.
You have heard, but you refuse to listen.”
21 The Lord made his teachings wonderful.
He did this because he is good.
9 Since the day we heard this about you, we have continued praying for you. We ask God that you will know fully what God wants. We pray that you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things. 10 Then you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. 11 Then God will strengthen you with his own great power. And you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. 12 Then you will joyfully give thanks to the Father. He has made you[a] able to have all that he has prepared for his people who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid for our sins,[b] and in him we have forgiveness.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.