Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Fairness
A shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I trust in you for protection.
Save me and rescue me
from those who are chasing me.
2 Otherwise, they will tear me apart like a lion.
They will rip me to pieces, and no one can save me.
3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something wrong?
4 Have I done wrong to my friend?
Have I stolen from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
Let him trample me into the dust.
Let him bury me in the ground. Selah
6 Lord, rise up in your anger.
Stand up against my enemies’ anger.
Get up and demand fairness.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and rule them from above.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, defend me.
Prove that I am right.
Show that I have done no wrong, God Most High.
9 God, you do what is right.
You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people.
And help those who do what is right.
10 God Most High protects me like a shield.
He saves those whose hearts are right.
11 God judges by what is right.
And God is always ready to punish the wicked.
12 If they do not change their lives,
God will sharpen his sword.
He will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons.
He has made his flaming arrows.
14 There are people who think up evil.
They plan trouble and tell lies.
15 They dig a hole to trap other people.
But they will fall into it themselves.
16 They themselves will get into trouble.
The violence they cause will hurt only themselves.
17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
I sing praises to the name of the Lord Most High.
9 Announce this to the strong towers of Ashdod.
Announce it to the strong cities of Egypt:
“Come to the mountains of Samaria.
There you will see great confusion.
You will see people hurting others.”
10 “The people don’t know how to do what is right,” says the Lord.
“Their strong cities are filled with treasures they took by force from others.”
11 So this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will take over the land.
He will pull down your strong towers.
He will take the treasures you hid in your strong cities.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“A shepherd might save from a lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear of his sheep.
In the same way only a few Israelites will be saved.
These people now sit on their beds in Samaria.
They sit on their couches.”
13 “You nations, listen to what I say against the family of Israel. You are my witnesses against them,” says the Lord God, the God of heaven’s armies.
14 “The people of Israel sinned, and I will punish them.
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.
The corners of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house,
together with the summer house.
The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed.
And the great houses will come to an end,” says the Lord.
Israel Will Not Return
4 Listen to this message, you rich women on the Mountain of Samaria.
You take things from the poor
and crush people who are in need.
You tell your husbands,
“Bring us money so we can drink!”
2 The Lord God has promised this:
“It is certain that I am a holy God.
So it is certain that the time will come
when some of you will be taken away by hooks.
The rest of you will be taken away with fishhooks.
3 You will go straight out of the city
through holes in the walls.
And you will be thrown on the garbage dump,” says the Lord.
4 “Go to the city of Bethel and sin.
Go to Gilgal and sin even more.
Offer your sacrifices every morning.
Bring one-tenth of your crops on the third day.
5 Offer bread made with yeast as a sacrifice to show your thanks.
And brag about the offerings you bring to show thanks to the Lord.
Brag about these things, Israelites.
This is what you love to do,” says the Lord God.
Love All People
2 My dear brothers, you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. So never think that some people are more important than others. 2 Suppose someone comes into your church meeting wearing very nice clothes and a gold ring. At the same time a poor man comes in wearing old, dirty clothes. 3 You show special attention to the one wearing nice clothes. You say, “Please, sit here in this good seat.” But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor by my feet!” 4 What are you doing? You are making some people more important than others. With evil thoughts you are deciding which person is better.
5 Listen, my dear brothers! God chose the poor in the world to be rich with faith. He chose them to receive the kingdom God promised to people who love him. 6 But you show no respect to the poor man. And you know that it is the rich who are always trying to control your lives. And they are the ones who take you to court. 7 They are the ones who say bad things against Jesus, who owns you.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.