Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 44
For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God,
our fathers have told us
what work You did in their days,
in the days of old:
2 how You drove out the nations with Your hand,
and planted others instead;
how You afflicted peoples,
and sent them away.
3 For they did not take possession of the land by their own sword,
nor did their own arm save them;
but it was Your right hand, and Your arm,
and the light of Your countenance, because You had favor on them.
4 You are my King, O God;
command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through You we will push down our opponents;
through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
nor will my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our opponents,
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we boast all the day long,
and give thanks to Your name forever. Selah
9 But You have rejected us and put us to shame,
and do not go out with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the opponent,
and those who hate us make us their spoil.
11 You have placed us like sheep for prey,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for nothing,
and do not increase Your wealth by their sale.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and a derision to those who surround us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the people.
15 All day long my reproach is before me,
and the shame of my face covers me,
16 from the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come on us,
yet we have not forgotten You,
nor have we dealt falsely in Your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back,
nor have our steps deviated from Your way,
19 though You have crushed us in the place of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yes, for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are considered like sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake; why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise; do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our body cleaves to the earth.
26 Arise, be our help,
and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
11 Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,
when I restore the fortunes of My people.
7 When I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the wickedness of Samaria.
For they deal deceitfully;
the thief breaks in;
the robbers raid outside,
2 but they did not consider in their hearts
that I remember all their wickedness.
Now their own deeds surround them;
they are before My face.
Corrupt and Disloyal Politics
3 They make the king glad with their wickedness,
and the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers,
like an oven heated by a baker,
who ceases stirring the fire
after kneading the dough until it is leavened.
5 On the day of our king the princes made him sick
from the heat of wine.
He stretched out his hand with scorners.
6 For they are kindled[a] like an oven.
Their heart burns within them;[b]
their anger smolders[c] all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven,
and they devour their judges.
All their kings have fallen,
and none of them calls to Me.
8 Ephraim mixes himself with the people.
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9 Foreigners devour his strength,
but he does not know it.
Gray hairs are here and there upon him,
but he does not know it.
10 The pride of Israel testifies against him,
but they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek Him for all this.
11 Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense;
they call to Egypt,
they go to Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like the birds of the sky;
I will discipline them according to
the report to their congregation.
13 Woe to them,
for they have fled from Me!
Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against Me!
Though I would redeem them,
yet they speak lies against Me.
14 They do not cry to Me with their heart
when they howl on their beds.
They gather together for grain and wine,
they rebel against Me.
15 Though I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise mischief against Me.
16 They return, but not to the Most High.
They are like a loose bow.
Their princes will fall by the sword
for the rage of their tongue.
This will be their derision
in the land of Egypt.
Love for Enemies(A)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 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 do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.