Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
How Long, O Lord?
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
79 O God, (B)the nations have come into your (C)inheritance;
they have defiled your (D)holy temple;
they have (E)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given (F)the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your (G)faithful to (H)the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was (I)no one to bury them.
4 We have become (J)a taunt to our neighbors,
(K)mocked and derided by those around us.
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all (A)my evil neighbors (B)who touch the heritage that (C)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, (D)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, (E)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, (F)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 (G)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”
The Ruined Loincloth
13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and (H)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, (I)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in (J)a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there (K)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took (L)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was (M)spoiled; it was (N)good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: (O)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great (P)pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, (Q)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is (R)good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, (S)that they might be for me a people, (T)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, (A)the Jews were entrusted with (B)the oracles of God. 3 (C)What if some were unfaithful? (D)Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! (E)Let God be true though (F)every one were a liar, as it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict (I)wrath on us? ((J)I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could (K)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, (L)why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not (M)do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.