Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the Director: On the Gittith. By Asaph.
Celebrating and Remembering God
81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Raise a shout to the God of Jacob.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
open your mouth that I may fill it.
11 Yet my people didn’t obey my voice;
Israel didn’t submit to me.
12 So I allowed them[a] to continue in their stubbornness,
living by their own advice.
13 If only my people would obey me,
if only Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies.
I would turn against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord will cringe before him;
their punishment will be permanent.
16 But I will feed Israel[b] with the finest wheat,
satisfying you with honey from the rock.
Jeremiah’s Complaint about Justice
12 You are righteous, Lord,
even when I bring a complaint to you.
But I want to discuss justice with you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper,
while all who are treacherous are at ease?
2 You plant them and they take root,
they grow and bear fruit.
“You are near to us,” they say with their mouths,
but the truth is that you’re far from their hearts.
3 You know me, Lord.
You see me and test my thoughts[a] toward you.
Pull the wicked[b] out like sheep for slaughter;
set them apart for the day of butchering.[c]
4 How long will the land mourn
and the vegetation of every field dry up?
Because of the wickedness of those who live in it,
animals and birds are swept away.
For they say, “He does not see our future.”
God’s Reply to Jeremiah
5 Indeed, if you run with others on foot,
and they tire you out,
how can you compete with horses?
You are secure[d] in a land at peace,
but how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
6 Indeed, even your brothers and your father’s family
conspire against you.
Even they cry out after you loudly.
Don’t believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you.
7 I’ll forsake my house,
I’ll abandon my inheritance.
I’ll give the beloved of my heart
into the hand of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become like a lion in the forest to me.
She roars at me; therefore, I hate her.
9 Is my inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to me?
Are the other[e] birds of prey all around her coming against her?
Go, gather all the wild animals and
bring them to devour it.
10 Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard.
They’ll trample down my portion.
They’ll turn my pleasant portion
into a desolate desert.
11 They’ll make it into a desolate place,
and, desolate, it will cry out in mourning to me.
The whole land will be desolate
because no one takes it to heart.
12 On all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will come.
Indeed, a sword of the Lord will devour from
one end of the land to the other.
There will be no peace[f] for any person.[g]
13 They have sown wheat,
but they have harvested thorns.
They have tired themselves out,
but they don’t show a profit.
Now be disappointed about your harvest
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
7 Because everything will soon come to an end, be sensible and clear-headed, so you can pray. 8 Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 As good servant managers of God’s grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must speak God’s words.[a] Whoever serves must serve with the strength[b] that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah.[c] Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.