Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 83
Surrounded by Enemies
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A song. A psalm by Asaph.
Opening Plea
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, God.
A Catalog of Enemies
2 Look! Your enemies are in an uproar,
and those who hate you have raised their head.
3 Against your people they devise deceptive schemes,
and they plot together against the people you treasure.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation,
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
5 Indeed, with one mind they plot together.
They form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal[a] and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Ashshur has joined with them. Interlude
They have become the arm of the sons of Lot.[b]
Prayer for Destruction of the Enemies
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the stream Kishon.
10 They perished at Endor.
They became like manure for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession of God’s pastures for ourselves.”
13 My God, make them like tumbleweed,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire burns the forest,
or as a flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 so pursue them with your violent wind,
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame
so that they will seek your name, O Lord.
17 May they be ashamed and terrified forever.
May they be disgraced and perish.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord,
you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
17 Then Jacob got ready to go. He placed his sons and his wives on camels. 18 He took with him all his livestock and all his possessions that he had accumulated, including the livestock that he had acquired in Paddan Aram. He set out to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19 Now when Laban had gone off to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.[a]
20 Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was running away. 21 So he fled with all that he had. He set out, crossed over the Euphrates River, and headed toward the hill country[b] of Gilead.
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 He took his relatives with him and pursued him for seven days. He overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream during the night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not say anything to Jacob either good or bad.”
25 Laban caught up with Jacob. Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban along with his relatives also set up camp in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? Why have you deceived me and carried away my daughters like prisoners of war? 27 Why did you flee secretly and steal from me? Why didn’t you tell me, so that I could have sent you away with a celebration and with songs, with drums and with lyres? 28 Why didn’t you allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters?[c] By doing this you have acted foolishly. 29 I have it in my power to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night and said, ‘Be careful that you do not say anything to Jacob either good or bad.’ 30 But even if you were so eager to leave because of your strong desire to return to your father’s house, why have you stolen my gods?”
31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your daughters away from me by force. 32 But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, identify anything I have that belongs to you, and take it.” (Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household gods.)
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the gods. After he had left Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Rachel had taken the household gods and put them into her camel’s saddle, and she was sitting on them. Laban felt all around the tent, but he did not find them. 35 Rachel said to her father, “Do not be angry, my lord, because I cannot stand up in your presence. I’m having my period.” He searched, but he did not find the gods.
Believers Are Abraham’s Children
3 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?[a]
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to reach the goal by the flesh? 4 Did you experience so many things for nothing, if it were indeed for nothing? 5 So then, does the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the law? Or does he do it by your believing what you hear— 6 in the same way as Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”?[b]
7 Understand, then, that those who believe are the children of Abraham. 8 Foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, Scripture proclaimed the gospel in advance to Abraham, saying, “In you, all nations will be blessed.”[c] 9 So then, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.