Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for the Nation

80 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock! You Who sit on Your throne above the angels, let Your light shine! ² Stir up Your power in front of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manassah, and come to save us! ³ O God, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

⁴ O Lord God of all, how long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people? ⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears. And You have made them drink a big amount of tears. ⁶ You have made us an object of arguing to our neighbors. Those who hate us laugh among themselves. ⁷ O God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

³¹ The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a New Way of Worship for the Jews and those of the family group of Judah. ³² The New Way of Worship will not be like the Old Way of Worship I gave to their early fathers. That was when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. But they did not follow the Old Way of Worship, even when I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. ³³ “This is the New Way of Worship that I will give to the Jews. When that day comes,” says the Lord, “I will put My Law into their minds. And I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. ³⁴ No one will need to teach his neighbor or his brother to know the Lord. All of them will already know Me from the least to the greatest,” says the Lord. “I will forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.”

¹⁰ Our sins are washed away and we are made clean because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time.

¹¹ All Jewish religious leaders stand every day killing animals and giving gifts on the altar. They give the same gifts over and over again. These gifts cannot take away sins. ¹² But Christ gave Himself once for sins and that is good forever. After that He sat down at the right side of God. ¹³ He is waiting there for God to make of those who have hated Him a place to rest His feet. ¹⁴ And by one gift He has made perfect forever all those who are being set apart for God-like living.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit tells us this: First He says, ¹⁶ “This is the New Way of Worship that I will give them. When that day comes, says the Lord, I will put My Laws in their hearts. And I will write them in their minds.” Then He says, ¹⁷ “I will not remember their sins and wrong-doings anymore.” ^{(A) 18} No more gifts on the altar in worship are needed when our sins are forgiven.