Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
National Lament and Prayer for Help
To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.
44 We have heard with our ears, O God,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds thou didst perform in their days,
in the days of old:
2 thou with thy own hand didst drive out the nations,
but them thou didst plant;
thou didst afflict the peoples,
but them thou didst set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory;
but thy right hand, and thy arm,
and the light of thy countenance;
for thou didst delight in them.
4 Thou art my King and my God,
who ordainest[a] victories for Jacob.
5 Through thee we push down our foes;
through thy name we tread down our assailants.
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our foes,
and hast put to confusion those who hate us.
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to thy name for ever.Selah
9 Yet thou hast cast us off and abased us,
and hast not gone out with our armies.
10 Thou hast made us turn back from the foe;
and our enemies have gotten spoil.
11 Thou hast made us like sheep for slaughter,
and hast scattered us among the nations.
12 Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those about us.
14 Thou hast made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and shame has covered my face,
16 at the words of the taunters and revilers,
at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten thee,
or been false to thy covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from thy way,
19 that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals,
and covered us with deep darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or spread forth our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long,
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Rouse thyself! Why sleepest thou, O Lord?
Awake! Do not cast us off for ever!
24 Why dost thou hide thy face?
Why dost thou forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our body cleaves to the ground.
26 Rise up, come to our help!
Deliver us for the sake of thy steadfast love!
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I would restore the fortunes of my people,
7 1 when I would heal Israel,
the corruption of E′phraim is revealed,
and the wicked deeds of Samar′ia;
for they deal falsely,
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid without.
2 But they do not consider
that I remember all their evil works.
Now their deeds encompass them,
they are before my face.
3 By their wickedness they make the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
4 They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven,
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
6 For like an oven their hearts burn[a] with intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
and none of them calls upon me.
8 E′phraim mixes himself with the peoples;
E′phraim is a cake not turned.
9 Aliens devour his strength,
and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and he knows it not.
10 The pride of Israel witnesses against him;
yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
Futile Reliance on the Nations
11 E′phraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
12 As they go, I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them for their wicked deeds.[b]
13 Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14 They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves,
they rebel against me.
15 Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They turn to Ba′al;[c]
they are like a treacherous bow,
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.