Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

142 ^1-2 How I plead with God, how I implore his mercy, pouring out my troubles before him. ³ For I am overwhelmed and desperate, and you alone know which way I ought to turn to miss the traps my enemies have set for me. ⁴ (There’s one—just over there to the right!) No one gives me a passing thought. No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. ⁵ Then I prayed to Jehovah. “Lord,” I pled, “you are my only place of refuge. Only you can keep me safe.

⁶ “Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. ⁷ Bring me out of prison so that I can thank you. The godly will rejoice with me for all your help.”

3 This is the prayer of triumph^[a] that Habakkuk sang before the Lord:

² O Lord, now I have heard your report, and I worship you in awe for the fearful things you are going to do. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. In your wrath, remember mercy.

³ I see God moving across the deserts from Mount Sinai.^[b] His brilliant splendor fills the earth and sky; his glory fills the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise! What a wonderful God he is! ⁴ From his hands flash rays of brilliant light. He rejoices in his awesome power.^{[c] 5} Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. ⁶ He stops; he stands still for a moment, gazing at the earth. Then he shakes the nations, scattering the everlasting mountains and leveling the hills. His power is just the same as always! ⁷ I see the people of Cushan and of Midian in mortal fear.

^8-9 Was it in anger, Lord, you smote the rivers and parted the sea? Were you displeased with them? No, you were sending your chariots of salvation! All saw your power! Then springs burst forth upon the earth at your command!^{[d] 10} The mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging water. The mighty deep cried out, announcing its surrender to the Lord.^{[e] 11} The lofty sun and moon began to fade, obscured by brilliance from your arrows and the flashing of your glittering spear.

¹² You marched across the land in awesome anger and trampled down the nations in your wrath. ¹³ You went out to save your chosen people. You crushed the head of the wicked and laid bare his bones from head to toe. ¹⁴ You destroyed with their own weapons those who came out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be an easy prey.

¹⁵ Your horsemen marched across the sea; the mighty waters piled high. ¹⁶ I tremble when I hear all this; my lips quiver with fear. My legs give way beneath me, and I shake in terror. I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who invade us.

⁵ My answer to them is: Remember this fact—which you know already—that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him. ⁶ And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy but turned to a life of sin.^[a] Now God has them chained up in prisons of darkness, waiting for the judgment day. ⁷ And don’t forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.

⁸ Yet these false teachers carelessly go right on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the Glorious Ones. ⁹ Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses’ body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you.” ¹⁰ But these men mock and curse at anything they do not understand, and like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.

¹¹ Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God and will die under his curse.

¹² When these men join you at the love feasts of the church, they are evil smears among you, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without a thought for others. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but producing nothing. They are like fruit trees without any fruit at picking time. They are not only dead, but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned.

¹³ All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by the wild waves. They wander around looking as bright as stars, but ahead of them is the everlasting gloom and darkness that God has prepared for them.

¹⁴ Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, knew about these men and said this about them: “See, the Lord is coming with millions of his holy ones. ¹⁵ He will bring the people of the world before him in judgment, to receive just punishment and to prove the terrible things they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all they have said against him.” ¹⁶ These men are constant gripers, never satisfied, doing whatever evil they feel like; they are loudmouthed “show-offs,” and when they show respect for others, it is only to get something from them in return.

¹⁷ Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, ¹⁸ that in the last times there would come these scoffers whose whole purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable. ¹⁹ They stir up arguments; they love the evil things of the world; they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.

²¹ Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and bless you. Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.