Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 39
Show Me My Life’s End
Heading
For the choir director. For Jeduthun.[a] A psalm by David.
The Psalmist’s Anguish
1 I said, “I will guard my ways
so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are confronting me.”
2 I said nothing. I kept silent.
I did not even say anything good,
but my pain became worse.
3 Inside me my heart grew hot.
As I fretted, the fire burned.
So I spoke with my tongue.
The Shortness of Human Life
4 Lord, help me understand my end.
What is the limit of my days?
Let me know how fleeting I am.
5 See, you have cut short my days.[b]
My brief time before you is like nothing.
Indeed, every person, even at his best,
is just a puff of air.[c] Interlude
6 A man flickers like a mirage.
He really has no more effect than a breeze.[d]
He piles things up, never knowing who will get them.
The Enduring Goodness of God
7 But now what do I wait for, Lord?
My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my rebellious acts.
Do not let fools scorn me.
9 I said nothing.
I did not open my mouth,
because you are the one who caused this.
10 Stop punching me.
By the attack of your hand I am finished.
11 By your rebuke against guilt you discipline a man.
Like a moth you consume what he desires.
Indeed, every person is nothing but a puff of air. Interlude
Closing Prayer
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry.
Do not ignore my tears,
for with you I am an alien,
just a visitor, as were all my ancestors.
13 Look away from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and am no more.
The Broken Covenant
11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
2 Listen to the terms of this covenant, and announce them to every man in Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. A curse on the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant, 4 the terms I commanded your fathers[a] when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace. I said, “Obey me and do everything that I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.” 5 Then I will ratify the oath I swore to your fathers, that I would give them a land flowing with milk and honey—as it is today.
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
6 The Lord then told me to proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.
Listen to the terms of this covenant and obey them. 7 From the time when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I have warned them again and again to obey my voice, 8 but they did not obey. They did not pay attention. Each one lived according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart. So I brought all the curses of this covenant on them. I commanded them to obey, but they did not obey.
9 The Lord also said to me:
A conspiracy has been uncovered among the men of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their fathers, who refused to obey my words. They are following other gods and serving them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore this is what the Lord says. Watch this. I am going to bring a disaster on them that they will not be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will cry out to the gods to whom they have been burning offerings, but who cannot do anything to save them in the time of trouble. 13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns. You have set up as many altars to burn offerings to Shame—that is, to Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.
14 As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or a request for them. I will not listen to them when they call to me in their time of distress. 15 She is my beloved, but what right does she have to be in my temple when she has done so many wicked things? Can consecrated meat prevent you from being punished if you rejoice when you do evil?
16 The Lord called you a green olive tree with beautifully formed fruit. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it ablaze, and its branches will be broken.
17 The Lord of Armies, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done. They have provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
God Will Judge What Each Person Does
2 Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who judges someone else, because by judging the other person you also condemn yourself, since you, who are judging, are doing the very same things. 2 And we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
3 Are you thinking that you will escape God’s judgment, you who judge those who do such things and then do the same things yourself? 4 Or do you have so little regard for his rich kindness, his restraint, and his patience, that you ignore the fact that the purpose of God’s kindness is to lead you to repentance? 5 As a result of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God will reveal his righteous judgment.
6 God “will repay each person according to what he has done”[a]— 7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good, 8 but furious anger to those who out of selfish ambition are disobeying what is true and obeying what is wrong. 9 There will be trouble and distress for the soul of every person who does what is evil—for the Jew first and for the Greek— 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good—for the Jew first and for the Greek. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.