Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
12 In the face of such grace that day, you will thank God.
People: Thank you, thank you, thank you, Eternal One,
God of our people, of our promise
For establishing an end to our punishment,
for taking me back with kindness, and comforting me.
2 See, God has come to rescue me;
I will trust in Him and not be afraid,
For the Eternal, indeed, the Eternal is my strength and my song.
My very own God has rescued me.
God has given His people a new surety and confidence, a new sense of purpose, strength, and determination.
3 With joy in each step, you will drink deeply from the springs of salvation.
4 You’ll want to sing out that day,
People: Give thanks to the Eternal; call on His name.
Spread the news throughout the world of what He has done
and how great is His name!
5 Sing praises to the Eternal!
Everyone, everywhere should know that God acts in amazing ways.
6 You who live in this God-blessed place, this Zion, shout out and sing for joy!
For God is great, and God is here—with us and around us—the Holy One of Israel.
59 The Eternal One’s reach is not so short that He cannot save you.
His ear is not so deaf that He cannot hear you.
Reactions vary to the awful events that sweep over Judah in the wake of the Babylonian invasion. Some people think that the God of Israel is defeated. This is exactly what the Babylonians hope the people will think and say; it makes the job of the tyrants and their deputies that much easier. So when the prophet announces that Israel’s God can and will rescue His displaced people, many reason that God may want to rescue them but cannot, for He is no match for the might of Babylon. Others are apparently wondering if God simply couldn’t hear their cries for help in the first place. Is Babylon too powerful? Are the exiles too far from home to be heard? The prophet knows the fears that reside in anxious hearts; but more than that, he knows the truth.
2 Your persistent wrongdoing has come between you and your God;
since you constantly reject and push God away,
He had to turn aside and ignore your cries.
3 For your hands are covered with blood;
your fingers are sticky with all manner of crimes;
Your lips drip vicious lies;
your tongue mutters all manner of wickedness.
4 Everyone misuses the judicial system,
clogging it with twisted accusations and misleading testimony.
With empty charges and baseless lies
they conceive trouble and give birth to injustice.
5 They concoct and create the most poisonous things;
it’s as if they hatch vipers’ eggs or weave spiders’ webs.
Eat their eggs and die; crush one and a viper is hatched—
yet more poison, hurt, and distrust.
6 There is nothing of value in their creations—
the webs they weave are not fit to clothe or cover anyone.
The products they make are nothing but trouble;
violence comes naturally to them.
7 Their feet race to do evil;
they rush to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are bent toward injustice;
destruction and trouble line the roads of their lives.
8 They never travel the path of peace;[a]
no justice is found where they have been.
They set a course down crooked roads;
no one who follows their lead has a chance of knowing peace.
9 People: That’s why we can’t make things right;
good and true can’t gain any ground on us.
We look earnestly for a bright spot, but there isn’t
even a glimmer of hope; it’s darkness all around.
10 We are left to stumble along, grabbing at whatever seems solid,
like the blind finding their way down a strange and threatening street.
In broad daylight—when we should have sight—we stumble and fall as in the dark.
We are already like the dead among those brimming with health.
11 We growl like bears and moan like doves.
We hope that maybe, just maybe, it will all turn out right;
But it doesn’t. We look for liberation, but it’s too far away.
12 For our wrongdoing runs too deep before You.
Our sins stack up against us—sure evidence of our guilt.
For our offenses are always with us; they are insidious and lasting, as You know.
Our guilt says it all. We know it, too.
13 We took You for nothing, and did just the opposite of Your commands.
We broke our promises to You, ignored and rejected You.
We hatched up schemes to oppress others and rebel, to twist the truth for our gain
while presenting it as honest-to-God fact.
14 When justice calls, we turn it away.
Righteousness knows to keep its distance,
For truth stumbles in the public square,
and honesty is not allowed to enter.
15 There is no truth-telling anymore,
and anyone who tries to do right finds he is the next target.
It’s true. The Eternal One saw it all
and was understandably perturbed at the absence of justice.
3 Brothers and sisters, we cannot help but thank God for you, which is only appropriate because your faith is growing and expanding and because the love demonstrated by each and every one of you is overflowing for one another. 4 So, of course, we’ve proudly bragged about you within circles of God’s people at other churches near and far because, even in the grip of much persecution and affliction, you’ve stood firm in your faith and have persevered. 5 Your sufferings prove that God’s judgment is right! The result: your sufferings have made you worthy—worthy of the kingdom of God, which is the very reason why you are suffering in the first place! 6 It is only right that God would repay with trouble those who have troubled you 7-8 and give relief to all of you still bandaging your wounds, as well as to all the rest of us. On that day—when the clouds draw back displaying His powerful heavenly messengers in a fiery blaze, Jesus the Lord will appear from heaven dealing out perfect justice to anyone who doesn’t know God and anyone who disobeys the good news of our Lord Jesus. 9 And what’s to become of them? They’ll pay for what they’ve done; their punishment will be eternal destruction. And what’s worse? They’ll be banished from the Lord’s presence and glorious power. 10 On that day when He comes, all the saints in heaven and on earth will celebrate the glory of His power, and all who believe will stand and be amazed—this includes you because you believed us when we testified on His behalf. 11 All this is why we are constantly praying for you, so God will make you worthy of the great calling you have received from Him and will give you the power to accomplish every good intention and work of faith. 12 Then the great name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified through your lives, and you will be glorified in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.