Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Cares for His People

139 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. ² You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. ³ You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. ⁴ Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all. ⁵ You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.

¹³ For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. ¹⁴ I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. ¹⁵ My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.

¹⁷ Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! ¹⁸ If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Jeremiah Complains

¹⁰ It is bad for me, my mother, that you have given birth to me! I am a man of trouble and fighting to all the land. No one owes money to me, and I do not owe money to others, yet every one curses me. ¹¹ The Lord said, “For sure I will set you free for a good reason. For sure I will make those who hate you ask of you in times of trouble and suffering.

¹² “Can anyone crush iron, iron from the north, or brass? ¹³ I will give your money and riches to those who fight against you, without a price, because of all your sins in all your land. ¹⁴ I will make those who hate you bring your riches into a land you do not know. For My anger has started a fire that will burn you.”

¹⁵ O Lord, You understand. Remember me and visit me. And punish those who make it hard for me. Do not take me away, for You are slow to be angry. Know that because of You I suffer and am put to shame. ¹⁶ Your words were found and I ate them. And Your words became a joy to me and the happiness of my heart. For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of All. ¹⁷ I did not sit with those who were having fun, and I was not full of joy. I sat alone because Your hand was upon me. For You had filled me with hate for their sin. ¹⁸ Why is there no end to my pain? And why will my hurt not be healed? Will You be to me like a river that flows with water some of the time and is dry at other times?

The Lord’s Answer

¹⁹ So the Lord says, “If you return, then I will let you take your place again, standing before Me. And if you take out what is of worth from what is of no worth, then you will speak for Me. Let these people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. ²⁰ Then I will make you like a strong wall of brass to these people. Even if they fight against you, they will not get power over you. For I am with you to save you and bring you out of trouble,” says the Lord. ²¹ “I will take you from the hand of the sinful. And I will free you from the hand of those who would hurt you.”

²⁵ I thought it was right that I send Epaphroditus back to you. You helped me by sending him to me. We have worked together like brothers. He was like a soldier fighting beside me. ²⁶ He has been wanting to see all of you and was troubled because you heard he was sick. ²⁷ It is true, he was sick. Yes, he almost died, but God showed loving-kindness to him and to me. If he had died, I would have had even more sorrow. ²⁸ This is all the more reason I have sent him to you. When you see him, you will be glad and I will have less sorrow. ²⁹ Take him into your church with joy. Show respect for men like him. ³⁰ He came close to death while working for Christ. He almost died doing things for me that you could not do.