Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors
A song. A psalm of Asaph.[a]
83 O God, do not rest silently.
Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
2 For look, your enemies roar,
and those who hate you have lifted their head.
3 They devise cunning schemes[b] against your people,
and consult together against your protected ones.[c]
4 They say, “Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation,
so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
9 Do to them as you did with Midian,
as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon.
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became dung for the ground.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever,
and let them be humiliated and perish
18 that they may know that you,
whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
are the Most High over the whole earth.
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 9 She said, “Surely I will go with you; however, there will be no glory for you in the path you are taking,[a] for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” And Deborah stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and they went up behind him,[b] ten thousand men, and Deborah went up with him.
11 And Heber the Kenite was separated from the other Kenites,[c] that is, from the descendants[d] of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses. And he was encamped[e] at Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When they[f] reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned all his chariots—all nine hundred chariots[g] of iron—and the entire army that was with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the wadi[h] of Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Get up! This is the day that Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Has Yahweh not gone out before you?” So Barak went out from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into confusion[i] before the edge of Barak’s sword;[j] and Sisera dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots[k] and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all of Sisera’s army fell to the edge of the sword;[l] no one was left.
17 Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera, and she said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me and do not be afraid.” So he turned aside into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.[m] 19 And he said to her, “Please, give me a drink of water, because I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin vessel of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ You must answer, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, took in her hand a tent peg and a hammer, and she went softly[n] to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; he was fast asleep since he was exhausted, and he died. 22 And behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him, and she said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he came with her and saw that Sisera was lying dead with the peg in his temple. 23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites.[o] 24 And the hand of the Israelites[p] pressed harder[q] and harder on Jabin king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
The Righteous and Impartial Judgment of God
2 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, every one of you who passes judgment. For in that which you pass judgment on someone else, you condemn yourself, for you who are passing judgment are doing the same things. 2 Now we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. 3 But do you think this, O man who passes judgment on those who do such things, and who does the same things, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will reward each one according to his works: 7 to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, 8 but to those who act from selfish ambition and who disobey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be affliction and distress for every human being[a] who does evil, of the Jew first and of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
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