Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

17 Hear what is right, O Lord. Listen to my cry. Hear my prayer, for it does not come from lying lips. ² May You decide in my favor. May Your eyes see what is right. ³ You have tested my heart. You have visited me during the night. You have tested me and have found nothing wrong. I have decided that my mouth will not sin. ⁴ As for the actions of men, by the word of Your lips, I have kept myself from the paths of those who want to hurt others. ⁵ My steps have followed Your paths. My feet have not turned from them.

⁶ I have called to You, O God, for You will answer me. Listen to me and hear my words. ⁷ Show Your great loving-kindness. You save by Your right hand the people that come to You for help from those who hate them. ⁸ Keep me safe as You would Your own eye. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings, ⁹ from the sinful who fight against me, those who would kill me and are all around me. ¹⁰ They have closed their fat hearts to pity. And their mouths speak with pride. ¹¹ They have followed our every step and are all around us. They are watching for a way to bring us down to the ground. ¹² He is like a hungry lion, like a young lion hiding and waiting.

¹³ Rise up, O Lord. Stand against him. Bring him down. Save me from the sinful with Your sword. ¹⁴ O Lord, save me by Your hand from such men. Their riches are in this life. Their stomach is filled with what you have stored for them. Their children are filled. Let them leave some for their babies. ¹⁵ As for me, I will see Your face in what is right and good. I will be happy to see You when I awake.

David Numbers Israel and Judah

21 Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go and number Israel from Beersheba to Dan. Then let me know how many people there are.” ³ Joab said, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want this thing done? Why should he bring guilt upon Israel?” ⁴ But the king’s word was stronger than Joab. So Joab left and went through all of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem. ⁵ He gave the number of all the people to David. There were 1,100,000 men in all Israel who used the sword. And there were 470,000 men in Judah who used the sword. ⁶ But Joab did not number Levi and Benjamin among them because he did not like what the king had told him to do. ⁷ God was not pleased that Israel was numbered so He punished Israel. ⁸ David said to God, “I have sinned very much by doing this thing. But now I beg You, take away the sin of Your servant for I have done a very foolish thing.”

⁹ The Lord said to Gad, David’s man of God, ¹⁰ “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says. “I give you three things to choose from. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.”’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said, “This is what the Lord says. ‘Choose one of these. ¹² Three years of no food in the land; three months to be destroyed by the sword of those who hate you; or three days of the sword of the Lord. This would be a disease sent upon the land. The angel of the Lord would destroy with disease through all the land of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I should give Him Who sent me.” ¹³ David said to Gad, “I am in much trouble. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord. For His loving-kindness is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.” ¹⁴ So the Lord sent a disease upon Israel. And 70,000 men of Israel died. ¹⁵ God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw the trouble and was sorry. He said to the destroying angel, “It is enough. Now take your hand away.” The angel of the Lord was standing by the grain-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ Then David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven. The angel had his sword in his hand, held out over Jerusalem. Then David and the leaders fell on their faces. They were dressed in cloth made from hair. ¹⁷ David said to God, “Was it not I who said that the people must be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done a very bad thing. But what have these sheep done? O Lord my God, I beg You, let Your hand be against me and my father’s house. But do not let the trouble be upon Your people.”

Christ Is Our Helper

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, there is One Who will go between him and the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One Who is right with God. ² He paid for our sins with His own blood. He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

³ We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His teaching. ⁴ Anyone who says, “I know Him,” but does not obey His teaching is a liar. There is no truth in him. ⁵ But whoever obeys His Word has the love of God made perfect in him. This is the way to know if you belong to Christ. ⁶ The one who says he belongs to Christ should live the same kind of life Christ lived.