Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the director of music. For teaching. A miktam of David when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab returned and struck down 12,000 people from Edom in the Valley of Salt. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.”
60 God, you have turned away from us. You have attacked us.
You have been angry. Now turn back to us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open.
Fix its cracks, because it is falling apart.
3 You have shown your people hard times.
You have made us drink the wine of your anger.
Now we can’t even walk straight.
4 But you lead into battle those who have respect for you.
You give them a flag to wave against the enemy’s weapons.
5 Save us and help us by your power.
Do this so that those you love may be saved.
6 God has spoken from his temple.
He has said, “I will win the battle.
Then I will divide up the land around Shechem.
I will divide up the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead belongs to me.
So does the land of Manasseh.
Ephraim is the strongest tribe.
It is like a helmet for my head.
Judah is the royal tribe.
It is like a ruler’s scepter.
8 Moab serves me like one who washes my feet.
I toss my sandal on Edom to show that I own it.
I shout to Philistia that I have won the battle.”
9 Who will bring me to the city that has high walls around it?
Who will lead me to the land of Edom?
10 God, isn’t it you, even though you have now turned away from us?
Isn’t it you, even though you don’t lead our armies into battle anymore?
11 Help us against our enemies.
The help people give doesn’t amount to anything.
12 With your help we will win the battle.
You will walk all over our enemies.
The Lord Is Angry With Israel
13 When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
the other tribes trembled with fear.
Ephraim was honored in Israel.
But its people sinned by worshiping Baal.
So they were as good as dead.
2 Now they sin more and more.
They use their silver
to make statues of gods for themselves.
The statues come from their own clever ideas.
Skilled workers make all of them.
The people pray to these gods.
They offer human sacrifices to them.
They kiss the gods that look like calves.
3 So these people will vanish like the morning mist.
They will soon disappear like the early dew.
They will be like straw
that the wind blows around on a threshing floor.
They will be like smoke
that escapes through a window.
4 The Lord says,
“People of Israel, I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You must not worship any god but me.
You must not have any savior except me.
5 I took care of you in the desert.
It was a land of burning heat.
6 I fed them until they were satisfied.
Then they became proud.
They forgot all about me.
7 So I will leap on them like a lion.
I will hide and wait
beside the road like a leopard.
8 I will attack them like a bear
that is robbed of her cubs.
I will rip them wide open.
Like a lion I will eat them up.
Like a wild animal I will tear them apart.
9 “Israel, you will be destroyed.
I helped you. But you turned against me.
10 Where is your king?
Wasn’t he supposed to save you?
Where are the rulers in all your towns?
You said, ‘Give us a king and princes.’
11 So I became angry and gave you a king.
Then I took him away from you.
12 Ephraim’s guilt is piling up.
I am keeping a record of all their sins.
13 They will suffer pain like a woman having a baby.
They are like foolish children.
It is time for them to be born.
But they don’t have the sense to come out of their mother’s body.
14 “I will set these people free from the power of the grave.
I will save them from death.
Death, where are your plagues?
Grave, where is your power to destroy?
“I will no longer pity Ephraim.
15 Even though they are doing well among the other tribes,
trouble will come to them.
I will send a hot and dry wind from the east.
It will blow in from the desert.
Their springs will not have any water.
Their wells will dry up.
All their treasures
will be taken out of their storerooms.
16 The people of Samaria must pay for their sins.
They have refused to obey me.
They will be killed by swords.
Their little children will be smashed on the ground.
Their pregnant women will be ripped wide open.”
More Teachings
2 Give a lot of time and effort to prayer. Always be watchful and thankful. 3 Pray for us too. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to preach our message. Then we can preach the mystery of Christ. Because I preached it, I am being held by chains. 4 Pray that I will preach it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let the words you speak always be full of grace. Learn how to make your words what people want to hear. Then you will know how to answer everyone.
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