Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of Praise to God
12 ·At that time [L In that day] you will say:
“I praise you, Lord!
You were angry with me,
but ·you are not angry with me now [L your anger has turned away]!
You have comforted me.
2 [L Look; T Behold] God is ·the one who saves me [L my salvation];
I will trust him and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord ·gives me [L is my] strength and ·makes me sing [L my song; or my defense/protection].
He has ·saved me [L become salvation/deliverance/victory for me].”
3 You will joyfully draw water
from the ·wells [springs] of salvation.
4 ·At that time [L In that day] you will say,
“Praise the Lord and ·worship him [L call on his name].
·Tell everyone [L Make known among the nations/peoples] what he has done
and ·how great he is [L announce that his name is exalted/lifted up].
5 Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done ·great [glorious; majestic] things.
Let all the world know what he has done.
6 Shout and sing for joy, you people of ·Jerusalem [L Zion; 1:27],
because the Holy One of Israel [1:4] ·does great things before your eyes [L is great among you].”
The Lord Will Save His People
14 Someone will say, “Build ·a road [up; or it]! Build ·a road [up; or it]! Prepare the way [40:3; 62:10]!
·Make the way clear [Remove the obstacles] for my people.”
15 And this is the reason: God lives forever and is holy.
He is high and ·lifted up [exalted].
He says, “I live in a high and holy place,
but I also live with people who are ·sad [contrite] and ·humble [lowly in spirit].
I ·give new life to [revive the spirit of] those who are ·humble [lowly]
and to those whose hearts are ·broken [contrite; repentant].
16 I will not ·accuse [or contend/fight against them] forever,
nor will I always be angry,
because then ·human life [the spirit] would grow weak.
·Human beings [L The breath], whom I created, would die.
17 I was angry because ·they were dishonest in order to make money [of their sinful greed].
I punished them and ·turned away from them [L hid my face] in anger,
but they ·continued to do evil [L turned away in the way of their heart].
18 I have seen ·what they have done [their ways], but I will heal them.
I will guide them and comfort them and those who ·felt sad for them [mourn].
·They will all praise me [I will create praise on their lips; L …creating fruit of lips].
19 ·I will give peace, real peace [L Peace, peace], to those far and near,
and I will heal them,” says the Lord.
20 But ·evil people [the wicked] are like the ·angry [surging; tossing] sea,
which cannot rest,
whose waves toss up ·waste [mire; muck] and mud.
21 “There is no peace for ·evil people [the wicked],” says my God.
All People Have Sinned
18 [L For] God’s ·anger [wrath; retribution] is ·shown [being revealed] from heaven against all the ·evil [ungodly] and ·wrong [wicked; unrighteous] things people do. By their ·own evil lives [wickedness; unrighteousness] they ·hide [suppress] the truth. 19 God ·shows [reveals] his ·anger [wrath; retribution] because ·some knowledge of [what can be known about] him has been made ·clear [plain; evident] to them. Yes, God has ·shown himself [revealed/disclosed it] to them. 20 For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and ·all the things that make him God [his divine nature]—have been clearly ·seen [perceived], understood through what God has made. So people have no excuse. 21 They knew God, but they did not give glory to God or thank him. Their thinking became ·useless [futile; pointless]. Their ·foolish [ignorant; uncomprehending] ·minds [L hearts] were ·filled with darkness [darkened]. 22 They claimed to be wise, but they became fools. 23 They ·traded [exchanged] the glory of ·God who lives forever [the immortal/imperishable God] for the worship of ·idols [images] made to look like ·earthly [mortal; perishable] people, birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 Because they did these things, God ·abandoned them to [allowed them to pursue; gave them over to] ·their sinful desires [L the desires of their hearts], resulting in ·sexual impurity [L uncleanness; impurity] and the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25 They ·traded [exchanged] the truth of God for ·a lie [or the lie; see Gen. 3:4–5] and worshiped and served ·the creation [or the creature; or created things] instead of the Creator, who ·should be praised [or is blessed] forever. Amen.
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