Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Is My Strength and My Song
12 You[a] will say (A)in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
(B)your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for (C)the Lord God[b] is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
3 (D)With joy you[c] will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 (E)And you will say in that day:
Comfort for the Contrite
14 And it shall be said,
(A)“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
15 For thus says (B)the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is (C)Holy:
(D)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also (E)with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
(F)to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 (G)For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his (H)unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, (I)but I will heal him;
I will lead him (J)and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 (K)creating (L)the fruit of the lips.
(M)Peace, peace, (N)to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
(O)“and I will heal him.
20 (P)But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 (Q)There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For (A)the wrath of God (B)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be (C)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, (D)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they (E)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 (F)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and (G)exchanged the glory of (H)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore (I)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to (J)the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for (K)a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, (L)who is blessed forever! Amen.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.