Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 59
God Our Stronghold
For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. When Saul sent agents to watch the house and kill him.(A)
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;(B)
protect me from those who rise up against me.(C)
2 Rescue me from evildoers,
and save me from men of bloodshed.(D)
3 Because look, Lord, they set an ambush for me.(E)
Powerful men attack me,
but not because of any sin or rebellion of mine.(F)
4 For no fault of mine,
they run and take up a position.
Awake to help me, and take notice.(G)
5 Lord God of Armies, you are the God of Israel.
Rise up to punish all the nations;
do not show favor to any wicked traitors.(H)Selah
6 They return at evening, snarling like dogs
and prowling around the city.(I)
7 Look, they spew from their mouths—
sharp words from[a] their lips.(J)
“For who,” they say, “will hear?” (K)
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;
you ridicule all the nations.(L)
9 I will keep watch for you, my[b] strength,
because God is my stronghold.(M)
10 My faithful God[c] will come to meet me;
God will let me look down on my adversaries.(N)
11 Do not kill them; otherwise, my people will forget.
By your power, make them homeless wanderers(O)
and bring them down,
Lord, our shield.(P)
12 For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
They utter curses and lies.(Q)
13 Consume them in fury;
consume them until they are gone.(R)
Then people will know throughout[d] the earth
that God rules over Jacob.(S)Selah
14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.(A) Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against King Hazael of Aram. 15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king,[a] then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah
16 Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and King Ahaziah of Judah had gone down to visit Joram. 17 Now the watchman(B) was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s mob approaching and shouted, “I see a mob!”
Joram responded, “Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’” (C)
18 So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them but hasn’t started back.”
19 So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20 Again the watchman reported, “He reached them but hasn’t started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi(D)—he drives like a madman.”
21 “Get the chariot ready!” Joram shouted, and they got it ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.(E) 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”
He answered, “What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and sorcery from your mother Jezebel?” (F)
23 Joram turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, “It’s treachery,(G) Ahaziah!”
24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.(H) 25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite.(I) For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘so will I repay you on this plot of land’—this is the Lord’s declaration. So now, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land.”(J)
Unity in Christ
11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,”(A) which is done in the flesh by human hands.(B) 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise,(C) without hope(D) and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood(E) of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one(F) and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create(G) in himself one(H) new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body(I) through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.[a] 17 He came and proclaimed the good news(J) of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.(K) 18 For through him we both have access(L) in one Spirit to the Father.(M) 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,(N) with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together,(O) grows into a holy temple in the Lord.(P) 22 In him you are also being built together(Q) for God’s dwelling(R) in the Spirit.
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