Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: An instruction[a] of the Sons of Korah.
A Prayer in Times of Defeat
44 God, we heard it with our ears;
our ancestors told us about what you did in their day—
a long time ago.
2 With your hand you expelled the nations
and established our ancestors.[b]
You afflicted nations
and cast them out.
3 It was not with their sword that they inherited the land,
nor did their own arm deliver them.
But it was by your power,[c] your strength,
and by the light of your face;
because you were pleased with them.
4 You are my king, God,
command[d] victories[e] for Jacob.
5 Through you we will knock down our oppressors;
through your name we will tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I place no confidence in my bow,
nor will my sword deliver me.
7 For you delivered us from our oppressors
and put to shame those who hate us.
8 We will praise God all day long;
and to your name we will give thanks forever.
9 However, you cast us off and made us ashamed!
You did not even march with our armies!
10 You made us retreat from our oppressors.
Our enemies ransacked us.
11 You handed us over to be slaughtered like sheep
and you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold out your people for nothing,
and made no profit at that price.
13 You made us a laughing stock to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and derision to those around us.
14 You made us an object lesson among the nations;
people shake their heads at us.[f]
15 My dishonor tortures[g] me continuously;[h]
the shame on my face overwhelms[i] me
16 because of the voice of the one who mocks and reviles,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this came upon us,
yet we did not forsake you,
and we have not dealt falsely with your covenant;
18 Our hearts have not turned away;
our steps have not swerved from your path.
19 Nevertheless, you crushed us in the lair of jackals,
and covered us in deep darkness.[j]
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or lifted our hands to a foreign god,
21 wouldn’t God find out
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
22 For your sake we are being killed all day long.
We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Wake up! Why are you asleep, Lord?
Get up! Don’t cast us off forever!
24 Why are you hiding your face?
Why are you ignoring our affliction and oppression?
25 For we[k] have collapsed in the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Arise! Deliver us!
Redeem us according to your gracious love!
Alluring a Wayward Wife
14 “Therefore, look! I will now allure her.
I will make her go out to the wilderness,
and will speak to her heart.
15 There I will restore her vineyards to her,
and the Valley of Achor will become a doorway to hope.
There she will respond as she did in her youth,
when she came up from Egypt.”
The Restoration of Israel
16 “It will come about at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“that you will address me as ‘My husband,’
and you will no longer call me ‘My master’.[a]
17 I will remove the names of the Baals[b] from her vocabulary[c]—
they will not be remembered by their names anymore.
18 I will make a covenant with them at that time,
a covenant[d] with the wild animals of the field,
with the birds of the air,
and with the creatures of the ground.
I will banish[e] the battle bow, the sword, and war from the earth.
I will cause my people[f] to lie down where it is safe.
19 I will make you my wife forever—
I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous,
in a manner that is just,
by a love that is gracious,
and by a motive that is mercy.
20 I will make you my wife because of my[g] faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.
21 “It will come about at that time that I will respond,”
declares the Lord,
“I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond with grain, new wine, and oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.[h]
23 I will plant my people[i] in the land for myself.
I will show mercy on her who has received no mercy[j]
I will say to those who are not my people,[k] ‘You are my people!’
and they will say, ‘You are[l] my God.’”
Hosea Reconciles with His Wife
3 Then the Lord told me: “Go love your wife[m] again, even though she is being loved by another and is committing adultery. Love her the same way[n] the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they look to other gods and love raisin cakes.”[o] 2 So I bought her back for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and one and a half omers[p] of barley.
3 I told her, “You will remain with me a long time,[q] you won’t be promiscuous, you won’t be involved with any man, and I’ll do the same.”[r]
4 Likewise, the people of Israel will dwell a long time[s] without a king, without a prince, without sacrifice, without sacred[t] pillars, and with neither ephod nor teraphim.[u] 5 Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the last days.
16 Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days.[a] 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality[b] belongs to the Messiah.[c] 18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen.[d] Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind. 19 He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.
The New Life in the Messiah
20 If you have died with the Messiah[e] to the basic principles of the world,[f] why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world? 21 “Don’t handle this! Don’t taste or touch that!” 22 All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.
Keep Focusing on the Messiah
3 Therefore, if you have been raised with the Messiah,[g] keep focusing on the things that are above, where the Messiah[h] is seated at the right hand of God.
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