Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
139 O Lord, you have examined me, and you know me.
2 You alone know when I sit down and when I get up.
You read my thoughts from far away.
3 You watch me when I travel and when I rest.
You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a ⌞single⌟ word on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and in back of me.
You lay your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is beyond my grasp.
It is so high I cannot reach it.
13 You alone created my inner being.
You knitted me together inside my mother.
14 I will give thanks to you
because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was still an unborn child.
Every day ⌞of my life⌟ was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place.
17 How precious are your thoughts concerning me, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I try to count them,
there would be more of them than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.
Jeremiah Complains Bitterly
10 I’m so miserable! Why did my mother give birth to me?
I am a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth.
I have never lent or borrowed anything.
Yet, everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said,
“I will certainly rescue you for a good reason.
I will certainly make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and in times of distress.
12 (No one can break iron, iron from the north, or bronze.)
13 I will give away your wealth and treasures as loot
as the price for all the sins that you have committed
throughout your territory.
14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of,
because my anger has started a fire.
It will burn you.”
15 O Lord, you understand.
Remember me, take care of me,
and take revenge on those who persecute me.
Be patient, and don’t take me away.
You should know that I’ve been insulted because of you.
16 Your words were found, and I devoured them.
Your words are my joy and my heart’s delight,
because I am called by your name, O Lord God of Armies.
17 I didn’t keep company with those who laugh and have fun.
I sat alone because your hand was on me.
You filled me with outrage.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound incurable, refusing to heal?
Will you disappoint me like a stream
that dries up in summertime?
19 This is what the Lord says:
If you will return, I will take you back.
If you will speak what is worthwhile and not what is worthless,
you will stand in my presence.
The people will return to you, but you will not return to them.
20 I will make you like a solid bronze wall in front of these people.
They will fight you, but they will not defeat you.
I am with you, and I will save you and rescue you,
declares the Lord.
21 I will rescue you from the power of wicked people
and free you from the power of tyrants.
25 I feel that I must send Epaphroditus—my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier—back to you. You sent him as your personal representative to help me in my need. 26 He has been longing to see all of you and is troubled because you heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed, he was so sick that he almost died. But God had mercy not only on him but also on me and kept me from having one sorrow on top of another. 28 So I’m especially eager to send him to you. In this way you will have the joy of seeing him again and I will feel relieved. 29 Give him a joyful Christian welcome. Make sure you honor people like Epaphroditus highly. 30 He risked his life and almost died for the work of Christ in order to make up for the help you couldn’t give me.
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