Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 85[a]
Prayer for the People’s Salvation
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the good fortune of Jacob.[c]
3 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you canceled all their sins. Selah
4 You cast aside all your wrath;
you put an end to your great anger.
5 [d]Restore us once again, O God, our Savior,
and cease your displeasure toward us.
6 Will you remain angry with us forever?
Will you hold onto your wrath for all generations?
7 Will you not once again give us life
so that your people may exult in you?
8 Show us, O Lord, your kindness[e]
and grant us your salvation.
9 [f]I will listen for God’s response;
surely the Lord will proclaim peace to his people, his saints,[g]
to those who turn to him with their whole heart.
10 His salvation is indeed near for those who fear him;
his glory[h] will dwell in our land.
11 [i]Kindness and faithfulness[j] will meet;
righteousness and peace will embrace.
12 Faithfulness will spring forth from the earth,
and righteousness[k] will look down from heaven.
13 [l]The Lord will grant us prosperity,[m]
and our land will yield its harvest.
14 Righteousness will go forth in front of him,
and he will set us on the way he treads.
Chapter 5
I Shall Punish Them All
1 Hear this, O priests!
Listen closely, O house of Israel!
Give heed, O house of the king,
for you will be called to judgment!
For you have been a snare at Mizpah,[a]
and a net spread out upon Tabor,
2 and a deep pit at Shittim;
I shall punish all of them.
3 I know Ephraim,
and Israel is not hidden from me.
Despite this, O Ephraim, you have played the harlot,
and Israel is defiled.
4 Their deeds do not allow them
to return to their God.
For the spirit of immorality has possessed them,
and they no longer know the Lord.
5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
Ephraim stumbles in their guilt,
and Judah stumbles with them.
6 With their sheep and their cattle,
they shall go forth to seek the Lord.
However, they will not find him,
for he has withdrawn from them.
7 They have betrayed the Lord,
for they have borne illegitimate children.[b]
Now the new moon shall devour them
along with their fields.
War between Israel and Judah[c]
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah,[d]
the trumpet in Ramah.
Sound the alarm at Beth-aven:
“Look behind you, O Benjamin!”
9 Ephraim shall become a wasteland
on the day of punishment.
Against the tribes of Israel
I have decreed certain doom.
10 The rulers of Judah act like men
who move their neighbor’s boundary line.
On them I will pour out
my wrath like a flood.
11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
being intent on pursuing idols.
12 Therefore, I am like an infectious sore for Ephraim,
like maggots for the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim realized that he was ill
and Judah noted that he was covered with sores,
Ephraim went to Assyria,
and Judah sent envoys to the great king.
However, he has no power to cure you
or to heal your sores.
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will maul them and depart;
I will carry them off,
and no one will be able to rescue them.
15 I shall go back to my dwelling place
until they acknowledge their guilt
and seek my presence.[e]
In their affliction,
they will beseech my favor.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth was a man commended to you by God by means of miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him, as you yourselves know. 23 By the set plan and foreknowledge of God, he was handed over into the hands of lawless men. Crucifying him, you killed him. 24 However, God raised him up, releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25 For David says of him:
‘I saw the Lord always before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be shaken.
26 Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
27 For you will not abandon me to the netherworld
or allow your holy one to suffer corruption.
28 You have made known to me the way of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Brethren, I can say to you boldly that our ancestor David both died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this very day. 30 But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, saying that he was not abandoned to the netherworld and that his flesh did not suffer corruption.
32 “God raised this Jesus to life. Of that we are all witnesses. 33 Exalted at God’s right hand, he received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
36 “Therefore, let the whole house of Israel know with complete certitude that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”
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