Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Help
For the director of music. A maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 God, we have heard about you.
Our ancestors told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
2 With your power you forced the nations out of the land.
You placed our ancestors here.
You destroyed those other nations.
But you made our ancestors grow strong.
3 It wasn’t their swords that took the land.
It wasn’t their power that gave them victory.
But it was your great power and strength.
You were with them because you loved them.
4 My God, you are my King.
Your commands led Jacob’s people to victory.
5 With your help we pushed back our enemies.
In your name we walked on those who came against us.
6 I don’t trust my bow to help me.
My sword can’t save me.
7 You saved us from Egypt.
You made our enemies ashamed.
8 We will praise God every day.
We will praise your name forever. Selah
9 But you have rejected us and shamed us.
You don’t march with our armies anymore.
10 You let our enemies push us back.
Our enemies have taken our wealth.
11 You gave us away like sheep to be eaten.
You scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing.
You made no profit on the sale.
13 You made us a joke to our neighbors.
The community laughs and makes fun of us.
14 You made us a joke to the other nations.
People shake their heads.
15 I am always in disgrace.
I am covered with shame.
16 My enemy is getting even
with insults and curses.
17 All these things have happened to us,
but we have not forgotten you.
We have kept our agreement with you.
18 Our hearts haven’t turned away from you.
We haven’t stopped following you.
19 But you crushed us in this place where wild dogs live.
You covered us with deep darkness.
20 We did not forget our God.
We did not lift our hands in prayer to foreign gods.
21 God would have known if we had.
He knows what is in our hearts.
22 But for you we are in danger of death all the time.
People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.
23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever.
24 Why are you hidden from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
25 We have been pushed down into the dirt.
We are flat on the ground.
26 Get up and help us.
Because of your love, save us.
14 “So I am going to attract her.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
15 Then I will give her back her vineyards.
And I will make the Valley of Achor[a] a door of hope.
Then she will respond as when she was young,
as when she came out of Egypt.”
16 The Lord says, “Then she will call me ‘my husband.’
She will no longer call me ‘my baal.’[b]
17 I will never let her say the names of Baal again.
Then people won’t use their names anymore.
18 At that time I will make an agreement for them.
It will be with the wild animals, the birds and the crawling things.
I will remove from the land
the bow and the sword and the weapons of war.
Then my people will live in safety.
19 And I will make you my promised bride forever.
I will be good and fair.
I will show you my love and mercy.
20 I will be true to you as my promised bride.
Then you will accept that I am the Lord.
21 “And at that time I will answer you,” says the Lord.
“I will speak to the skies.
And they will give rain to the earth.
22 The earth will produce grain, wine and oil.
Much will grow because my people are called Jezreel—God plants.
23 I will plant my people in the land.
I will show pity to the one I had called ‘not shown pity.’
I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”
Hosea Buys Gomer Back
3 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again. She has had other lovers and has been unfaithful to you. But you must keep on loving her the way the Lord loves the people of Israel. This is true even though the Israelites worship other gods. They love to eat the raisin cakes.”[c]
2 So I bought Gomer for six ounces of silver and about ten bushels of barley. 3 Then I told her, “You must wait for me for many days. You must not be a prostitute. You must not be any other man’s lover. I, in turn, will wait for you.”
4 In the same way Israel will live many days without a king or leader. They will not have sacrifices or holy stone pillars. They will be without the holy vest or an idol. 5 After this, the people of Israel will return to the Lord their God. They will follow the Lord and the king from David’s family. In the last days they will come to the Lord. And he will bless them.
Don’t Follow People’s Rules
16 So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. 17 In the past, these things were like a shadow of what was to come. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. 18 Some enjoy acting as if they were humble and love to worship angels. They are always talking about the visions they have seen. Do not let them tell you that you are wrong. They are full of foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. 19 They do not keep themselves under the control of Christ, the head. The whole body depends on Christ. Because of him all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. This strengthens the body and holds it together. And so the body grows in the way God wants.
20 You died with Christ and were made free from the worthless rules of the world. So why do you act as if you still belong to this world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: 21 “Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that thing”? 22 These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. 23 These rules seem to be wise. But they are only part of a human religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies. But they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.
Your New Life in Christ
3 You were raised from death with Christ. So aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.