Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 71
Do Not Throw Me Away When I Am Old
Opening Prayer
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
May I not be put to shame forever.
2 In your righteousness rescue me and deliver me.
Turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock and my refuge to which I can always go.
You give the command to save me,
because you are my high ridge and my stronghold.
4 My God, deliver me from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and the ruthless.
Remembrance of Past Help
5 For you have been my hope, Lord God,
my confidence since my youth.
6 I have depended on[a] you since I was in the womb.
You separated me from my mother’s body.
My praise to you is continuous.
The Siege Is Coming
The Lord[a]
6 Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem!
Blow the ram’s horn in Tekoa.[b]
Raise a signal over Beth Hakkerem!
Disaster and great destruction threaten from the north.
2 I will silence the beautiful, pampered daughter of Zion.[c]
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her.
They will pitch their tents all around.
Each one will pasture his flock in his own spot.
The Enemy
4 Consecrate yourselves for war against her.
Rise up, we will attack at noon!
The People of Judah
We are doomed! The day is ending.
The evening shadows are getting longer.
The Enemy
5 We should get up and attack at night
and destroy its citadels.
The Lord
6 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Cut down her trees.
Raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression inside her.
7 Just as a well pours out fresh[d] water,
she pours out fresh evil.
Violence and destruction are heard in her.
Sickness and wounds are always before me.
8 Be warned, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you.
I will make your land desolate,
so that no one can live there.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
They will glean what remains of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine.
Like someone gathering grapes,
pass your hand over the branches again.
10 Who can I speak to?
Who will listen to my warning?[e]
Look! Their ears are uncircumcised.
They will not be able to hear.
Indeed, to them the word of the Lord is an embarrassment.
They take no pleasure in it.
11 I am full of the Lord’s wrath,[f]
and I cannot hold it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together.
Both husband and wife will be taken,
the old along with the very old.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
because I will stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,
declares the Lord.
13 From the least of them to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophets to priests, they all practice deceit.
14 They have treated the wound of my people as if it were nothing serious.
They say, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace!
15 Are they ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
No, they are not ashamed at all!
They do not know how to be ashamed.
So they will fall with the fallen.
They will be thrown down when I punish them, says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says.
Stand at the crossroads and look.
Ask about the ancient paths.
Ask where the good road is.
Walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, “We will not walk in it.”
17 I set watchmen over you and said,
“Listen to the sound of the ram’s horn!”
But you said, “We will not listen.”
18 Therefore, listen, you nations!
You witnesses, observe what will happen to them.
19 Listen, O earth.
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words,
and they have rejected my law.
3 Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.
The Lord’s Discipline
4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood in your fight against sin. 5 Have you also forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons?
My son, do not regard the Lord’s discipline lightly,
and do not become weary of his correction.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves,
and he corrects every son he accepts.[a]
7 Endure suffering as discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. Is there a son whose father does not discipline him? 8 If you are not disciplined (and all of us have received it), then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 In addition, we have earthly fathers[b] who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not submit even more to the Father of the spirits[c] and live? 10 They disciplined us for a little while, according to what seemed best to them, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may have a share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant when it is happening, but painful, yet later it yields a peaceful harvest of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore strengthen your weak hands and feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed.
14 Pursue peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15 Take care so that no one falls short of God’s grace and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and so defile many. 16 Take care that no one becomes sexually immoral or worldly, like Esau, who gave away his right as firstborn for a single meal. 17 Certainly you know that afterward he was rejected when he wanted to inherit the blessing, for he found no chance to change his father’s mind, even though he sought it with tears.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.