Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Urgent Prayer for the Restored Favor of God(A)
To the Chief Musician. (B)Set to [a]“Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. (C)When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (D)You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!
2 You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
(E)Heal its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 (F)You have shown Your people hard things;
(G)You have made us drink the wine of [b]confusion.
4 (H)You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 (I)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me.
6 God has (J)spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will (K)divide (L)Shechem
And measure out (M)the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(N)Ephraim also is the [c]helmet for My head;
(O)Judah is My lawgiver.
8 (P)Moab is My washpot;
(Q)Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
(R)Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not You, O God, (S)who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did (T)not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble,
(U)For the help of man is useless.
12 Through God (V)we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
Israel Restored at Last
14 O Israel, (A)return to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity;
2 Take words with you,
And return to the Lord.
Say to Him,
“Take away all iniquity;
Receive us graciously,
For we will offer the (B)sacrifices[a] of our lips.
3 Assyria shall (C)not save us,
(D)We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
(E)For in You the fatherless finds mercy.”
4 “I will heal their (F)backsliding,
I will (G)love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from him.
5 I will be like the (H)dew to Israel;
He shall [b]grow like the lily,
And [c]lengthen his roots like Lebanon.
6 His branches shall [d]spread;
(I)His beauty shall be like an olive tree,
And (J)his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 (K)Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;
They shall be revived like grain,
And [e]grow like a vine.
Their [f]scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
(L)Your fruit is found in Me.”
9 Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For (M)the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.
Do Not Worry(A)
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, (B)do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and (C)God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why [a]are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even (D)Solomon in all his glory was not [b]arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of (E)little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father (F)knows that you need these things. 31 (G)But seek [c]the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.