Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 142
A contemplative prayer[a] of David while he hid in a cave.
1 I call out loudly to the Eternal One;
I lift my voice to the Eternal begging for His favor.
2 I let everything that’s going wrong spill out of my mouth;
I spell out all my troubles to Him.
3 When my spirit buckled under the burdens I bear,
You knew my way.
They conspired to trip me up and trap me
on the path where I was walking.
4 Take a look around and see—to the right, to the left—
no one is there who cares for me.
There’s no way out of here;
no one cares about the state of my soul.
5 You are the One I called to, O Eternal One.
I said, “You’re the only safe place I know;
You’re all I’ve got in this world.
6 Oh, let me know that You hear my cry
because I’m languishing and desperate;
Rescue me from those who torment me
because there’s no way I can stand up to them;
they are much too strong for me.
7 Lift my captive soul from this dark prison
so I may render to You my gratitude;
Then Your righteous people will gather around me
because You will treat me with astounding goodness.”
15 The day of the Eternal’s judgment for all the nations is near.
Whatever evil you have done will be done to you;
Your deeds will come crashing back on your head.
16 Eternal One: Just as you drank to the defeat of My people on My holy mountain,
now you and all the nations around you will always drink excessively.
They will be forced to drink and guzzle a mouthful of suffering,
and it will be as if they never existed.
17 But on Mount Zion will be a place of safety.
Some will escape to that holy hill,
And the people of Jacob will conquer and possess
those who conquered and dispossessed them.
18 The people of Jacob will become a fire
and the family of Joseph a flame.
They will ignite and consume the people of Esau as they execute divine punishment
until only dry stubble remains.
No one from the people of Esau will survive the conflagration.
So declares the Eternal One.
19 Eternal One: The people from the southern desert[a] will take over Mount Esau,
and those from the foothills[b] will flood into the Philistines’ coastal plain.
They will possess the fertile lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin’s people will inhabit Gilead.
20 The army of exiled sons and daughters of Israel will stream back home
and live along the coast and possess the Canaanites as far as Zarephath.
And the exiles of Jerusalem who live in Sepharad
will settle down in the cities and villages of the South.[c]
21 These deliverers will go up to Mount Zion, My holy hill,
and justly rule Mount Esau from there.
And the kingdom they establish will belong to the Eternal One alone.
Disciples: 10 Why do You speak to the people in parables?
Jesus: 11 The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. 12 Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. 13 I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand.[a] 14 They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:
You will listen, but you will not understand;
you will look, but you will not see.
15 The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
their ears are clogged;
their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.[b]
16-17 Many holy prophets and righteous men and women and people of prayer and doers of good have wanted to see but did not see, and have wanted to hear but did not hear. Your eyes and ears are blessed.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.