Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 60
For the choir director; according to shushan eduth;[a] a miktam by David; for teaching. When David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab came back and killed 12,000 men from Edom in the Dead Sea region.
1 O Elohim, you have rejected us.
You have broken down our defenses.
You have been angry.
Restore us!
2 You made the land quake.
You split it wide open.
Heal the cracks in it
because it is falling apart.
3 You have made your people experience hardships.
You have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 Yet, you have raised a flag for those who fear you
so that they can rally to it
when attacked by bows and arrows. Selah
5 Save us with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.[b]
6 Elohim has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who refused to accompany our armies?
11 Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
12 With Elohim we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.
12 “Ephraim surrounds me with lies.
The nation of Israel surrounds me with deceit.”
Judah rebels against El, against the Holy One who is faithful.
The People of Israel Ignored What the Lord Had Done for Them
12 [a]The people of Ephraim try to catch the wind
and try to chase the east wind all day.
They are very violent and destructive.
They make treaties with Assyria and take olive oil to Egypt.
2 Yahweh brings charges against Judah and punishes Jacob
because of the way their people act.
He will pay them back for what they have done.
3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother’s heel
while the two of them were in their mother’s womb.
When Jacob became a man, he struggled with Elohim.
4 He struggled with the Messenger and won.
Jacob cried and pleaded with him.
Jacob found him at Bethel,
and he talked with him there.
5 Yahweh is the God of Armies.
Yahweh is the name by which he is remembered.
6 Return to your Elohim.
Be loyal and fair, and always wait with hope for your Elohim.
7 The Lord says, “The merchants use dishonest scales.
They love to cheat people.
8 The people of Ephraim say, ‘We’re rich. We’ve made a fortune.
With all this wealth, no one will find us guilty of any sin.’
9 I am Yahweh your Elohim.
I brought you out of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again
as you did during your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions.
I taught lessons through the prophets.”[b]
11 The people of Gilead are evil.
They are worthless.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal.
But their altars will become like piles of rubble
beside a plowed field.
12 Jacob fled to the country of Syria.
Israel worked to get a wife; he took care of sheep to pay for her.
13 Yahweh used a prophet to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt.
He used a prophet to take care of them.
14 The people of Ephraim made Yahweh bitter.
He will hold them guilty of murder.
Adonay will pay them back for their insults.
Advice for Wives and Husbands, Parents and Children, Slaves and Masters
18 Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority.[a] This is appropriate behavior for the Lord’s people. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be harsh with them.
20 Children, always obey your parents. This is pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, don’t make your children resentful, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, always obey your earthly masters. Don’t obey them only while you’re being watched, as if you merely wanted to please people. Be sincere in your motives out of respect for your real master. 23 Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans. 24 You know that your real master will give you an inheritance as your reward. It is Christ, your real master, whom you are serving. 25 The person who does wrong will be paid back for the wrong he has done. God does not play favorites.
4 Masters, be just and fair to your slaves because you know that you also have a master in heaven.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.