Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Helps Men in Trouble
107 Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His loving-kindness lasts forever! 2 Let the people who have been saved say so. He has bought them and set them free from the hand of those who hated them. 3 He gathered them from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some traveled through the desert wastes. They did not find a way to a city where they could live. 5 They were hungry and thirsty. Their souls became weak within them. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He took them out of their suffering. 7 He led them by a straight path to a city where they could live. 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! 9 For He fills the thirsty soul. And He fills the hungry soul with good things.
43 Let the wise man think about these things. And may he think about the loving-kindness of the Lord.
Israel Is Judged for Its Sin
9 Do not be happy, O Israel! Do not be glad like the nations! For you have sinned like a woman who sells the use of her body, turning away from your God. You have loved selling yourselves on every grain-floor. 2 The grain-floor and the place where the grapes are crushed will not feed them. And they will not have enough new wine. 3 They will not stay in the Lord’s land, but Ephraim will return to Egypt. And in Assyria they will eat unclean food. 4 They will not pour out drink gifts of wine to the Lord. Their gifts of worship will not please Him. Their bread will be like the bread of those in sorrow. Everyone who eats it will be unclean, for their bread will be for themselves alone. It will not come into the house of the Lord. 5 What will you do on the days set to have a special supper for the Lord? 6 When trouble comes and the people try to get away, Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Their riches of silver will be grown over by weeds, and thorns will be in their tents.
7 The days of punishment have come, the days when the people must pay for their sins. Let Israel know this. The man who tells what will happen in the future is a fool. The man who is led by the spirit is crazy. This is because of all your sin and anger. 8 Ephraim was meant to be a watchman who would speak for God. Yet there is a net in all his ways, and only anger in the house of his God. 9 They have gone deep into sin, as in the days of Gibeah. The Lord will remember their wrong-doing, and will punish their sins.
10 “I found Israel like grapes in the desert. I saw your fathers like the first-fruit on the fig tree in its first year. But they came to Baal-peor and gave themselves to that false god of shame. They became as sinful as the thing they loved. 11 Ephraim’s greatness will fly away like a bird. There will be no more children born to them, and they will not be able to have children. 12 Even if they raise children, I will take them away and not leave anyone alive. It will be bad for them when I leave them! 13 I have seen Ephraim planted in a good field like Tyre. But Ephraim will lead his children out to be killed.” 14 O Lord, what will You give them? Give them children who die before they are born, and make them not able to nurse their babies.
15 “Because of all their sin at Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of the sinful things they did, I will drive them out of My house. I will not love them any more. All their leaders would not obey Me. 16 Ephraim is destroyed. Their root is dried up and they will give no fruit. Even if they give birth, I will kill the children they love.” 17 My God will send them away because they have not listened to Him. And they will travel from nation to nation.
The Old and the New Life
17 I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish. 18 Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him. 19 They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.
20 But you did not learn anything like this from Christ. 21 If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him, 22 put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. 23 Let your minds and hearts be made new. 24 You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.
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