Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I ·give myself [L lift my soul] to you;
2 my God, I ·trust [have confidence in] you.
Do not let me be ·disgraced [shamed];
do not let my enemies ·laugh at [triumph/exult over] me.
3 No one who ·trusts [hopes in; waits on] you will be ·disgraced [shamed],
but those who ·sin [betray; are treacherous] without excuse will be ·disgraced [shamed].
4 Lord, ·tell me [make me know] your ways.
·Show [L Teach] me ·how to live [L your paths].
5 ·Guide [Lead] me in your truth,
and teach me, my God, my ·Savior [Helper; Victor].
I ·trust [hope in; wait on] you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your ·mercy [compassion] and ·love [loyalty; covenant love]
that you have shown since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and ·wrong things I did when I was young [transgressions of my youth].
But remember ·to love me [L according to your love/loyalty/covenant love] always
·because you are good [on account of your goodness], Lord.
8 The Lord is good and ·right [upright; virtuous];
he ·points [instructs] sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are humble how to do right,
and he teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ·ways [paths] are ·loving [loyal] and ·true [reliable]
for those who ·follow [keep; guard] the demands of his ·agreement [covenant].
Daniel’s Prayer
9 These things happened during the first year Darius son of Ahasuerus was king over ·Babylon [L the Chaldeans; C 539 bc]. He was ·a descendant [L from the seed] of the Medes [C a people group within the Persian empire]. 2 During Darius’ first year as king, I, Daniel, was ·reading in [pondering/reflecting on] the Scriptures. I saw ·that the Lord told Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be empty ruins for seventy years [L the number of years which were according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet to fulfill the ruin of Jerusalem was seventy years; 2 Chr. 36:20–22; Jer. 25:11–12; 29:10].
3 Then I turned [L my face] to the Lord God and ·prayed [L sought in prayer] and ·asked him for help [supplication]. ·To show my sadness, I fasted, put on rough cloth, and sat in [L …with fasting, and sackcloth, and] ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and ·told him about all of our sins [made confession]. I said, “Lord, you are a great ·God who causes fear and wonder [L and awesome God]. You ·keep [guard] ·your agreement of love [covenant and loyalty] with all who love you and ·obey [keep; guard] your commands.
5 “But we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and ·turned [rebelled] against you, your commands, and your ·laws [judgments]. 6 We did not listen to your servants, the prophets, who spoke ·for you [L in your name] to our kings, our ·leaders [princes], our ·ancestors [fathers], and all the people of the land.
7 “Lord, ·you are good and right [L to you is righteousness], but ·we are full of shame [L to us is shame of face] today—the people of Judah and Jerusalem, all the people of Israel, those near and far whom you ·scattered [drove away] among many nations because they were ·not loyal [treacherous] to you. 8 Lord, ·we are all ashamed [L to us is shame of face]. Our kings and ·leaders [princes] and our ·fathers [ancestors] are ·ashamed [shame-faced], because we have ·sinned against [or failed] you.
9 “But, Lord our God, you ·show us mercy [have compassion] and forgive us even though we have ·turned [rebelled] against you. 10 We have not ·obeyed [L listened to the voice of] the Lord our God or the ·teachings [instructions; laws] he gave us through his servants, the prophets. 11 All the people of Israel have ·disobeyed [transgressed] your ·teachings [instructions; laws] and have turned away, refusing to ·obey you [L listen to your voice]. So you ·brought [poured] on us the curses and ·promises of punishment [oaths] written in the ·Teachings [Instructions; Laws] of Moses [Deut. 28:64–68], the servant of God, because we ·sinned against [failed] you.
12 “·You said these things would happen to us and our ·leaders [judges], and you made them happen; you brought on us a great disaster. Nothing has ever been done ·on earth [L under all the heavens] like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 All this disaster came to us just as it is written in the ·Teachings [Instructions; Laws] of Moses [Deut. 28:15–68]. But we have not ·pleaded [entreated] with the Lord our God. We have not ·stopped [turned from] ·sinning [iniquity]. We have not ·paid attention to [considered; pondered; reflected on] your ·truth [faithfulness]. 14 The Lord ·was ready to bring [L kept watch on and brought] the disaster on us, and he did it because the Lord our God is ·right [righteous] in everything he does. But we still did not ·obey him [L listen to his voice].
3 We ·announce [proclaim; declare] to you what we have seen and heard, ·because we want you also to have [so that you also may have] fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with ·God the Father [L the Father] and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to you so ·we[a] may be full of joy [our joy may be complete/perfect/come to full expression].
God Forgives Our Sins
5 Here is the message we have heard from ·Christ [L him] and now ·announce [proclaim; declare] to you: God is light [C referring to God’s truth and goodness], and in him there is no darkness [C referring to falsehood and evil] at all. 6 So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we ·continue living [L are walking] in darkness, we are liars and do not ·follow [perform; practice; act according to] the truth [John 8:12; 12:35]. 7 But if we ·live [L walk] in the light, as ·God [L he] is in the light, we ·can share [have] fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin.
8 If we say we ·have no sin [or have no sin nature; or are not guilty of sinning], we are ·fooling [deceiving] ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because ·we can trust God to do what is right [L he is faithful and righteous/just; Deut. 32:4]. He will ·cleanse [purify] us from all ·the wrongs we have done [unrighteousness]. 10 If we ·say [claim] we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and ·we do not accept God’s teaching [L his word is not in us].
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