Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 44
Israel’s Complaint
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 God, we have heard with our ears—
our ancestors have told us—
the work you accomplished in their days,
in days long ago:(A)
2 In order to plant them,
you displaced the nations by your hand;
in order to settle them,
you brought disaster on the peoples.(B)
3 For they did not take the land by their sword—
their arm did not bring them victory—
but by your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face,(C)
because you were favorable toward them.(D)
4 You are my King, my God,
who ordains[a] victories for Jacob.(E)
5 Through you we drive back our foes;
through your name we trample our enemies.(F)
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and my sword does not bring me victory.(G)
7 But you give us victory over our foes
and let those who hate us be disgraced.(H)
8 We boast in God all day long;(I)
we will praise your name forever.(J)Selah
9 But you have rejected and humiliated us;
you do not march out with our armies.(K)
10 You make us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us
have taken plunder for themselves.(L)
11 You hand us over to be eaten like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.(M)
12 You sell your people for nothing;
you make no profit from selling them.(N)
13 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.(O)
14 You make us a joke among the nations,
a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.(P)
15 My disgrace is before me all day long,
and shame has covered my face,(Q)
16 because of the taunts[c] of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy and avenger.(R)
17 All this has happened to us,
but we have not forgotten you
or betrayed your covenant.(S)
18 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from your path.(T)
19 But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals
and have covered us with deepest darkness.(U)
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
and spread out our hands to a foreign god,(V)
21 wouldn’t God have found this out,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?(W)
22 Because of you we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.(X)
7 when I heal Israel,(C)
the iniquity of Ephraim(D) and the crimes of Samaria(E)
will be exposed.
For they practice fraud;(F)
a thief breaks in;
a raiding party pillages outside.(G)
2 But they never consider that I remember all their evil.(H)
Now their actions are all around them;(I)
they are right in front of my face.
Israel’s Corruption
4 All of them commit adultery;(L)
they are like an oven heated by a baker
who stops stirring the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king,
the princes are sick with the heat of wine(M)—
there is a conspiracy with traitors.[a]
6 For they—their hearts like an oven—
draw him into their oven.
Their anger smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are as hot as an oven,(N)
and they consume their rulers.(O)
All their kings fall;
not one of them calls on me.[b]
8 Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.
Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.
9 Foreigners consume his strength,(P)
but he does not notice.(Q)
Even his hair is streaked with gray,
but he does not notice.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,[c](R)
yet they do not return to the Lord their God,(S)
and for all this, they do not seek him.
11 So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove;(T)
they call to Egypt,(U) and they go to Assyria.(V)
12 As they are going, I will spread my net over them;(W)
I will bring them down like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them in accordance
with the news that reaches[d] their assembly.
The Lord’s Second Lament
13 Woe to them,(X) for they fled from me;(Y)
destruction to them, for they rebelled against me!
Though I want to redeem them,(Z)
they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry to me from their hearts;
rather, they wail on their beds.
They slash themselves[e](AA) for grain and new wine;(AB)
they turn away from me.
15 I trained and strengthened their arms,(AC)
but they plot evil against me.(AD)
16 They turn, but not to what is above;[f]
they are like a faulty bow.(AE)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent tongue.(AF)
They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.(AG)
Love Your Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor[a](A) and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies[b] and pray for those who[c] persecute you,(B) 45 so that you may be[d] children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.(C) 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary?[e](D) Don’t even the Gentiles[f] do the same? 48 Be perfect,(E) therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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