Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)pride the wicked [b]hotly pursue the afflicted;
[c]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)heart’s desire,
And [d]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [e]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [f](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[g]Throughout all generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [h]stealthily watch for the [i](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [j]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [k]crouches, he [l]bows down,
And the [m]unfortunate fall [n]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [o]take it into Your hand.
The [p](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[q](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 O Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the [r]humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will incline Your ear
18 To [s]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause (AN)terror.
Message at the Temple Gate
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “(A)Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 (C)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘[a]This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 For (D)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly (E)practice justice between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the [b](F)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed (G)innocent blood in this place, nor (H)walk after other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you (I)dwell in this place, in the (J)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in (K)deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and [c](L)offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after (M)other gods that you have not known, 10 then (N)come and stand before Me in (O)this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations? 11 Has (P)this house, which is called by My name, become a (Q)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, (R)I, even I, have seen it,” declares the Lord.
12 “But go now to My place which was in (S)Shiloh, where I (T)made My name dwell at the first, and (U)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, (V)rising up early and (W)speaking, but you did not hear, and I (X)called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore, I will do to the (Y)house which is called by My name, (Z)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I (AA)did to Shiloh. 15 I will (AB)cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the [d]offspring of (AC)Ephraim.
7 Therefore, just as (A)the Holy Spirit says,
“(B)Today if you hear His voice,
8 (C)Do not harden your hearts as [a]when they provoked Me,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 (D)Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me,
And saw My works for (E)forty years.
10 “(F)Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;
11 (G)As I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”
The Peril of Unbelief
12 (H)Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [b]that falls away from (I)the living God. 13 But (J)encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (K)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, (L)if we hold fast the beginning of our (M)assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
16 For who (O)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (P)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (Q)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (R)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (S)disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of (T)unbelief.
The Believer’s Rest
4 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have (U)come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but (V)the word [d]they heard did not profit them, because [e]it was not united by faith in those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“(W)As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished (X)from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said (Y)somewhere concerning the seventh day: “(Z)And God (AA)rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “(AB)They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of (AC)disobedience, 7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying [f]through David after so long a time just (AD)as has been said before,
“(AE)Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For (AF)if [g]Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also (AG)rested from his works, as (AH)God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same (AI)example of (AJ)disobedience.
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