Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
By David.
28 O Lord, I call to you.
O my rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me.
If you remain silent,
I will be like those who go into the pit.
2 Hear my prayer for mercy when I call to you for help,
when I lift my hands toward your most holy place.
3 Do not drag me away with wicked people,
with troublemakers who speak of peace with their neighbors
but have evil in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for what they have done,
for their evil deeds.
Pay them back for what their hands have done,
and give them what they deserve.
5 The Lord will tear them down and never build them up again,
because they never consider what he has done
or what his hands have made.
6 Thank the Lord!
He has heard my prayer for mercy!
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusted him, so I received help.
My heart is triumphant; I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people
and a fortress for the victory of his Messiah.[a]
9 Save your people, and bless those who belong to you.
Be their shepherd, and carry them forever.
29 When Reuben came back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was no longer there, he tore his clothes in grief. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! What am I going to do?”
31 So they took Joseph’s robe, killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 Then they brought the special robe with long sleeves to their father and said, “We found this. You better examine it to see whether it’s your son’s robe or not.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph must have been torn to pieces!” 34 Then, to show his grief, Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son a long time. 35 All his other sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “No, I will mourn for my son until I die.” This is how Joseph’s father cried over him.
36 Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials and captain of the guard.
4 God didn’t spare angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, where he has secured them with chains of darkness and is holding them for judgment.
5 God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval.
6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them. 7 Yet, God rescued Lot, a man who had his approval. Lot was distressed by the lifestyle of people who had no principles and lived in sexual freedom. 8 Although he was a man who had God’s approval, he lived among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each day was like torture to him as he saw and heard the immoral things that people did.
9 Since the Lord did all this, he knows how to rescue godly people when they are tested. He also knows how to hold immoral people for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow their corrupt nature along the path of impure desires and who despise the Lord’s authority.
These false teachers are bold and arrogant. They aren’t afraid to insult the ⌞Lord’s⌟ glory.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.