Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
129 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth].
(Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
2 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth],
but they have not ·defeated [overcome; prevailed over] me.
3 ·Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back [L The plowers plowed my back],
making ·long wounds [L their furrows long].
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has ·set me free from those [L cut the cords of] wicked people.
5 Let those who hate ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
be ·turned back in shame [L humiliated and turn back].
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it ·to [L for the harvester to] fill a hand
or ·to make into a bundle [those who bind sheaves] to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the ·power [L name] of the Lord.”
A Message to Babylon
50 This is the message the Lord spoke to Babylon and the ·Babylonian people [L Chaldeans] through Jeremiah the prophet.
2 “·Announce [Proclaim] this to the nations [L and let them hear].
Lift up a banner [C a battle standard] and ·tell them [make them hear].
·Speak the whole message [L Do not conceal anything] and say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
The god Bel [C another name for Marduk] will be ·put to shame [humiliated],
and the god Marduk [C the chief god of the Babylonians] will be ·afraid [terrified].
·Babylon’s gods [L Its images] will be ·put to shame [humiliated],
and her idols will be ·afraid [terrified]!’
3 A nation from the north will attack Babylon [C Persia]
and make it like an ·empty desert [desolation].
No one will live there;
both people and animals will ·run away [flee].”
4 The Lord says, “At that time [L and in those days]
the ·people [L sons] of Israel and Judah will come together.
They will cry and ·look for [L seek] the Lord their God.
5 Those people will ask ·how to go [L the way/path] to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
and will start in that direction.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord.
They will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with him that will last forever,
an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] that will never be forgotten [31:31–34].
6 “My people have been like lost sheep.
Their ·leaders [L shepherds] have led them ·in the wrong way [astray]
and made them wander around in the mountains and hills.
They forgot where their ·resting place [fold] was [Ps. 23].
7 Whoever ·saw [L found] my people ·hurt [L devoured] them.
And those ·enemies [foes] said, ‘We ·did nothing wrong [are not guilty].
Those people sinned against the Lord, their ·true [L righteous] ·resting place [fold],
the God their fathers ·trusted [hoped in].’
17 “The people of Israel are like a flock of sheep that are scattered
from being ·chased [driven] by lions.
The first lion to eat them up
was the king of Assyria [C Sennacherib defeated the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 bc].
The last lion to ·crush [gnaw] their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon [C defeated the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 bc].”
18 So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his country
as I punished the king of Assyria [C defeated by Babylon at the end of the seventh century bc].
19 But I will bring the people of Israel back to their own pasture.
They will ·eat [feed] on Mount Carmel and in Bashan [C particularly lush areas].
They will ·eat and be full [be sated]
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.”
20 The Lord says,
“At that time and in those days people will try to find Israel’s guilt,
but there will be no guilt.
People will try to find Judah’s sins,
but no sins will be found,
because I will leave a ·few people alive from Israel and Judah [remnant],
and I will forgive their sins.
Jesus Prays Alone(A)
39 Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives, as he often did, and his ·followers [disciples] ·went with [followed] him. 40 When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray for strength ·against temptation [or not to fail the test].”
41 Then Jesus went about a stone’s throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take away this ·cup of suffering [L cup; C suffering or punishment is metaphorically portrayed as something bitter to drink]. But do ·what you want [L your will], not ·what I want [L my will].” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him to strengthen him. 44 Being ·full of pain [in agony/anguish], Jesus prayed even harder. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he ·finished praying [L rose from prayer], he went to his ·followers [disciples] and found them asleep ·because of their sadness [exhausted from grief]. 46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray ·for strength against temptation [that you won’t give in to temptation; or that you won’t be tempted/tested].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.