Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Israel’s Praise to the Lord
12 At that time,[a] you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord,
for although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away,
and you have comforted me.
2 “Look! God—yes God—is[b] my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid.
For the Lord[c] is my strength and my song,[d]
and he has become my salvation.”
3 You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:[e]
4 “Give thanks to the Lord;
call on his name.
Make known his actions
among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord,[f]
because he has acted gloriously,
being made[g] known in all the world.
6 Shout aloud, and sing for joy,
you who live in Zion,
because great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.”
Sins that Separate from God
59 “See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save,
nor are his ears[a] too dull to hear.
2 Instead, your iniquities have been barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have concealed his face from you
so that he won’t listen.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your tongue[b] mutters wickedness.
4 No one brings a lawsuit fairly,
and no one goes to law honestly;
they have relied[c] on empty arguments
and they tell lies;
they conceive[d] trouble
and give birth[e] to iniquity.
5 They hatch[f] adders’ eggs[g]
and weave[h] a spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
and any crushed egg hatches out futility.[i]
6 Their cobwebs cannot become clothing,
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are deeds of iniquity,
and acts of violence fill their hands.
7 Their feet rush to evil,
and they are quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
ruin, destruction, and violence[j] are in their paths.
8 The pathway of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their courses.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them will know peace.”
A Commitment to Wait on God
9 “So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We wait for light, but look—there is darkness;
we wait for brightness, but we walk in deep darkness.[k]
10 Let’s grope[l] along the wall like the blind;
let us grope like those who have no eyes.
We stumble at midday as if it were twilight,
in desolate places[m] like dead people.
11 We all growl like bears;
we[n] sigh mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but there is none,
and[o] for deliverance, but it’s far from us.
12 “For our transgressions before you are many,
and our sins testify[p] against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and as for our iniquities,
we acknowledge them:
13 they’ve rebelled[q] in[r] treachery against the Lord,
and are turning away from following our God;
and they’ve spoken[s] oppression and revolt,
and are conceiving[t] lying words from the heart.
14 I’ll drive back justice,[u]
and righteousness stands at a distance;
for truth has fallen in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is missing,
and whoever turns away from evil becomes a prey.”
God Brings His Own Salvation
“Then the Lord looked, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
Endurance in Affliction
3 Brothers, at all times we are obligated to thank God for you. It is right to do this[a] because your faith is growing all the time and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4 As a result, we rejoice about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith through all the persecutions and afflictions you are experiencing. 5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment and is intended to make you worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you are suffering. 6 Certainly it is right for God to pay back those who afflict you with affliction, 7 and to give us who are afflicted relief when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in blazing fire. He will take revenge on those who do not know God and on those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power 10 when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed—including you, because you believed our testimony.
11 With this in mind, we always pray for you, asking[b] that our God might make you worthy of his calling and that through his power he might help you accomplish every good desire and faithful action. 12 That way the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus, the Messiah.[c]
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