Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer After a Defeat
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated 12,000 Edomites at the Valley of Salt.
60 God, you have rejected us and scattered us.
You have been angry, but please come back to us.
2 You made the earth shake and crack.
Fix its breaks because it is shaking.
3 You have given your people trouble.
You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.
4 You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you.
Now they can escape the enemy. Selah
5 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
6 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
8 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
11 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
12 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
The Lord Is Against Israel
12 Israel has surrounded me with lies.
The people of Israel have made their secret plans.
And Judah turns against God,
the faithful Holy One.
12 What Israel does is as useless as chasing the wind,
as dangerous as being in a windstorm.
They tell more and more lies
and do more and more violence.
They make agreements with Assyria,
and they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.
2 The Lord also has some things against Judah.
He will punish Israel for what they have done.
He will give them what they deserve.
3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother’s heel
while the two of them were being born.
When Jacob grew to be a man,
he wrestled with God.
4 He wrestled with the angel and won.
Jacob cried and asked for his blessing.
Later, God met with him at Bethel
and spoke with him there.
5 He is the Lord God of heaven’s armies.
He wants to be remembered as the Lord.
6 Like Jacob you must return to him.
You must be loyal and true to him.
You must do what is honest and just.
You must always trust in him as your God.
7 The merchants use dishonest scales.
They like to cheat people.
8 The people of Israel brag that they are rich.
They think that because they are rich
no one will learn about their sins.
9 “But I am the Lord your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again
as you used to do in the desert.
10 I spoke to the prophets
and gave them many visions.
Through them, I taught my lessons to you.”
11 The people of Gilead are evil.
They are worth nothing.
People sacrifice bulls at Gilgal.
But their altars will become like
piles of stone in a plowed field.
12 Your ancestor Jacob fled to Northwest Mesopotamia.
There he worked to get a wife.
He tended sheep to pay for her.
13 Later the Lord used a prophet
to bring Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt.
The Lord used a prophet
to take care of the Israelites.
14 But the Israelites made the Lord angry.
They killed other people.
They deserve to die for their crimes.
The Lord will make them pay
for the disgraceful things they have done.
Your New Life with Other People
18 Wives, be under the authority of your husbands. This is the right thing to do in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be gentle to them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things. This pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not nag your children. If you are too hard to please, they may want to stop trying.
22 Slaves, obey your masters in all things. Do not obey just when they are watching you, to gain their favor. But serve them honestly, because you respect the Lord. 23 In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were working for the Lord, not for men. 24 Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 But remember that anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong. And the Lord treats everyone the same.
4 Masters, give the things that are good and fair to your slaves. Remember that you have a Master in heaven.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.