Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
(A)A Prayer for Help[a]
142 I call to the Lord for help;
I plead with him.
2 I bring him all my complaints;
I tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am ready to give up,
he knows what I should do.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have hidden a trap for me.
4 When I look beside me,
I see that there is no one to help me,
no one to protect me.
No one cares for me.
5 Lord, I cry to you for help;
you, Lord, are my protector;
you are all I want in this life.
6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am sunk in despair.
Save me from my enemies;
they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my distress;[b]
then in the assembly of your people I will praise you
because of your goodness to me.
The Lord's Judgment on Edom
7 (A)This is what the Lord Almighty said about Edom: “Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared? 8 People of Dedan, turn and run! Hide! I am going to destroy Esau's descendants because the time has come for me to punish them. 9 When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want. 10 But I[a] have stripped Esau's descendants completely and uncovered their hiding places, so that they can no longer hide. All the people of Edom are destroyed. Not one of them is left. 11 Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me.
The New Life in Christ
17 In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless 18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. 19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.
20 That was not what you learned about Christ! 21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. 22 (A)So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 (B)and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.
25 (C)No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. 26 (D)If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. 27 Don't give the Devil a chance. 28 If you used to rob, you must stop robbing and start working, in order to earn an honest living for yourself and to be able to help the poor. 29 Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. 30 And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. 32 (E)Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.
Living in the Light
5 Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him. 2 (F)Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.