Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Isaiah's song
12 At that time, you will say,
‘I praise you, Lord.
You were angry with me. But now, you are no longer angry.
Now you have been kind to me.
2 Listen! God is the one who saves me!
I will continue to trust him.
I will not be afraid because the Lord himself makes me strong.
He keeps me safe. He rescues us from our enemies.’
3 When God does that, it will make you very happy.
You will be safe, like someone who gets plenty of good water from a well to drink.
4 At that time, you will say, ‘Praise the Lord!
Thank him for his help!
Tell all the nations about the great things that God has done.
Tell them that he is very great!
5 Sing songs to praise the Lord,
because he has done wonderful things!
Cause everyone in the world to know it!
6 Everyone who lives in Zion,
shout aloud and sing with joy!
The Holy God of Israel is great,
and he lives among you.’
The Lord promises to help his people
14 The Lord says,
‘Build a road! Make it ready for my people to travel on!
Remove everything that would cause them to fall.’
15 The Mighty God is far higher than all others. He rules from above and he lives for ever. His name is holy. He says,
‘I live in a high and holy place.
But I am also with anyone who is humble
and who is sorry when he does wrong things.
I will comfort people who are like that,
and I will give them hope.
16 I will not always speak against my people.
I will not be angry with them for ever.
I do not want them to lose hope completely.
I myself gave life to them.
17 I was angry with them because they were greedy,
which was a sin.
So I punished them.
I was angry and I turned away from them.
But they still refused to obey me.
They continued to do what they wanted to do.
18 I have seen what they are doing.
But I will make them well again.
I will be a guide for them,
and I will comfort them again.
Then people who are sad and they are weeping
19 will sing songs to praise me!
I will give them a reason to do that.
I will bring peace to all my people,
those who are far away,
and those who are near.
Yes, I will make them completely well again.’
That is what the Lord says.
20 ‘But wicked people are like a rough sea
with dangerous waves.
It cannot stay still.
Its waves throw up mud and dirt.
21 There will never be peace for wicked people.’
That is what my God says.
People are guilty
18 God in heaven shows that he is angry with people. He is angry because they do not respect him and they do bad things. Because they continue to do those bad things, they choose not to accept God's true message. 19 They should understand what God is like, because God himself has shown it to them clearly. 20 Ever since God made the world, he has been showing people clearly about himself. We cannot see God. But the things that he has made show us clearly what he is like. We can understand his great power that continues for ever. We can know that he is the true God. So there is no reason for anyone to say, ‘We could not know about God.’
21 Those people really knew about God. But they did not respect him as a great God, and they did not thank him. They did not even think clearly any more. Their minds became confused and they did not understand God's message. 22 They said that they were wise, but really they became fools. 23 They refused to worship the great God who can never die. Instead, they made false gods for themselves. They worshipped idols that were like people who must die. They also made idols that looked like birds, animals and snakes, and they worshipped them.
24 So God let those people do all the bad things that they wanted to do. God let those disgusting things rule their lives. As a result, they did bad things with each other's bodies. They did things that people should be ashamed to do. 25 They refused to believe the true things about God. Instead, they chose to believe lies. They worshipped things that God has made and they became servants of those things. But they refused to worship God himself who made those things! Everyone should praise him for ever! Amen. This is true.
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