Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Tsade
God’s Righteous Decrees
137 Lord, you are righteous,
and your judgments are right.
138 You have ordered your decrees to us rightly,
and they are very faithful.
139 My zeal consumes me
because my enemies forget your words.
140 Your word is very pure,
and your servant loves it.
141 Though I may be small and despised,
I do not neglect your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an eternal righteousness,
and your instruction[a] is true.
143 Though trouble and anguish overwhelm me,
your commands remain my delight.
144 Your righteous decrees are eternal;
give me understanding, and I will live.
God’s Response: The Coming Chaldean Invasion
5 “Look out at the nations and pay attention!
Be astounded! Be really astounded!
Because something is happening in your lifetime
that you won’t believe, even if it were described down to the smallest detail.[a]
6 Watch out! For I am bringing in the Chaldeans,[b]
that cruel and impetuous[c] people,
who sweep across the earth
dispossessing people[d] from homes not their own.
7 They are terrible and fearsome;
their brand of justice and sense of honor derive only from themselves!
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
and more cunning than wolves that attack at night.
Their horsemen are galloping
as they approach from far away.
They swoop in like ravenous vultures.[e]
9 “They all come to oppress—
hordes of them, their faces pressing onward—
they take prisoners as numerous as[f] the desert sand!
10 They make fun of kings,
deriding those who rule.
They laugh at all of the fortified places,
constructing ramps to seize them.
11 Then like[g] the wind sweeping by
they will pass through—
they’re guilty because they say[h] their power is their god.”
The Prophet’s Second Complaint
12 “Haven’t you existed forever,
Lord my God, my Holy One?
We won’t die!
Lord, you’ve prepared them[i] for judgment;
Rock, you’ve sentenced them[j] to correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil;
and you cannot tolerate wickedness.
So why do you tolerate the treacherous?
And why do you stay silent
while the wicked devour those who are more righteous than they are?
14 “You have fashioned mankind like fish in the ocean,
like creeping things that have no ruler.
15 The adversary[k] captures them with a hook,
gathering them up in a fishing net.
He collects them with a dragnet,
rejoicing and gloating over his catch.[l]
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his fishing net,
and burns incense in the presence of his dragnet,
because by them his assets increase
and he gets plenty of food.
17 Is he to continue to empty his fishing net?
Will he ever stop killing entire[m] nations without mercy?”
Greetings
1 From:[a] Simeon[b] Peter, a servant[c] and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.[d]
To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.[e]
2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!
We are Called to Holy Living
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to supplement your faith with moral character, your moral character with knowledge, 6 your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with endurance, your endurance with godliness, 7 your godliness with brotherly kindness, and your brotherly kindness with love. 8 For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[f] 9 For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.
10 So then, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election certain, for if you keep on doing this you will never fail. 11 For in this way you will be generously granted entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah.[g]
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