Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

A prayer for help^[a]

Jehoshaphat's prayer

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood up in front of the people of Jerusalem and the other places in Judah. He was standing in front of the new yard of the Lord's temple. ⁶ He prayed, ‘Lord, you are the God of our ancestors. You are the God who is in heaven and you rule over all kingdoms and nations. You are strong and powerful. Nobody can fight against you and win. ⁷ Our God, you chased out the people who were living in this land, so that your people, the Israelites, could move in. You have given this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham. It belongs to them for ever. ⁸ Your people made their homes here and they built a temple to give honour to your name. When they built it, they said, ⁹ “In the future, we may have trouble. There might be war, disease, famine or some other punishment. If that happens, we will come to you and we will stand in front of this temple. You have chosen this place to be your home. We will call out to you to help us when we are in trouble. Then you will hear us and you will rescue us.”

¹⁰ But now soldiers from Ammon, Moab and Edom are coming to attack us. When the Israelites were escaping from Egypt, you would not allow them to attack those lands. So our people turned away and they did not destroy those people. ¹¹ But now those people want to destroy us! They are coming to chase us out of the land that you gave to us as our home. ¹² So, our God, please punish these people! We are not strong enough to fight against this large army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do. But we are asking you to help us.’

⁷ Like good runners, you were doing very well! You should not have let anyone turn you away from God's true message. ⁸ It is not God who has caused you to change what you believe. No! God is the one who has chosen you to serve him. ⁹ People say this: ‘Only a small amount of yeast in the flour will cause a loaf of bread to grow big.’^{[a] 10} But I feel sure about you, because we belong to the Lord. I know that you will agree with what I say about this. But as for the man who is confusing you, God will punish him. It does not matter who he is, God will punish him.

¹¹ My Christian friends, do you think that I still teach that someone must circumcise believers? If I really taught that, then I would not still receive trouble from people. What I teach about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry. ¹² Those people who are causing trouble and want to circumcise you should cut their own bodies! Yes, that is what they should do!