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.
The People of Israel Will Be Punished for Their Idolatry
13 When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, people trembled.
The people of Ephraim were important in Israel.
Then they became guilty of worshiping Baal,
so they must die.
2 They keep on sinning more and more.
They make idols from silver for themselves.
These idols are skillfully made.
All of them are the work of craftsmen.
People say this about the Israelites: “They offer human sacrifices
and kiss calf-shaped idols.”
3 That is why they will be like fog in the morning
and like morning dew that disappears quickly.
They will be like straw blown away from threshing floors.[a]
They will be like smoke rising from chimneys.
4 “I am Yahweh your Elohim. I brought you out of Egypt.
You have known no god besides me.
There is no savior except me.
5 I took care of you[b] in the desert, in a dry land.
6 When I fed you, you were full.
When you were full, you became arrogant.
That is why you forgot me.
7 So I will be like a lion.
Like a leopard I will wait by the road to ambush you.
8 Like a bear that has lost her cubs, I will attack you.
I will rip you open.
Like a lion I will devour you.
Like a wild animal I will tear you apart.
9 You are destroying yourself, Israel.
You are against me, your helper.
10 “Where, now, is your king, the one who is supposed to save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges?
You said, ‘Give us kings and officials!’
11 I gave you a king when I was angry,
and I took him away when I was furious.
12 “Ephraim’s wickedness is on record.
The record of the people’s sins is safely stored away.
13 They have the opportunity to live again,
but they are not smart enough to take it.
They are like a baby who is about to be born
but won’t come out of its mother’s womb.
14 “I want to free them from the power of the grave.
I want to reclaim them from death.
Death, I want to be a plague to you.
Grave, I want to destroy you.[c]
I won’t even think of changing my plans.”
15 The people of Ephraim have become important among their relatives.
However, Yahweh’s scorching wind will come from the east.
It will blow out of the desert.
Then their springs will run dry,
and their wells will dry up.
The wind will destroy every precious thing in their storehouses.[d]
16 The people of Samaria are guilty as charged
because they rebelled against their Elohim.
They will be killed in war,
their children will be smashed to death,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Advice for All Christians
2 Keep praying. Pay attention when you offer prayers of thanksgiving. 3 At the same time also pray for us. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to speak the word so that we may tell the mystery about Christ. It is because of this mystery that I am a prisoner. 4 Pray that I may make this mystery as clear as possible. This is what I have to do.
5 Be wise in the way you act toward those who are outside the Christian faith. Make the most of your opportunities.
6 Everything you say should be kind and well thought out so that you know how to answer everyone.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.