Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Teach Me Your Paths

Psalm 25

Daniel Confesses Israel’s Sins

9 “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, ² in the first year of his reign—I, Daniel, understood from the books that according to the word of Adonai to Jeremiah the prophet, the number of the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70 years. ³ So I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ “I prayed to Adonai my God and confessed, saying: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love Him and keep His mitzvot, ⁵ we have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have acted wickedly; we have rebelled; we have turned away from Your mitzvot and from Your rulings. ⁶ We have not listened to Your servants the prophets,^[a] who spoke in Your name to our kings, our leaders and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “‘You Lord are righteousness, but shame covers our face to this day—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries where you have banished them—because they behaved unfaithfully toward you. ⁸ Adonai, shame covers our face—our kings, our leaders, our fathers—because we have sinned against you. ⁹ The Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. ¹⁰ We have not obeyed the voice of Adonai Eloheinu by walking in His Torah that He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your Torah and has turned away—not obeying Your voice.

“‘Therefore the curse and sworn judgment written in the Torah of Moses the servant of God has been poured out upon us, for we have sinned against Him. ¹² So He has confirmed His words that he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled over us by bringing on us a great calamity. Under the whole heaven nothing like this has ever been done to Jerusalem! ^{[b] 13} As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this calamity came on us, yet we have not sought the favor of Adonai Eloheinu by turning away from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth. ¹⁴ So Adonai was intent on bringing the calamity upon us, for Adonai Eloheinu is righteous in all His deeds that He has done—while we have not paid attention to His voice.

³ What we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so you may have fellowship with us. Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Yeshua the Messiah. ⁴ These things we write so our joy may be full.

God’s Light Dispels Darkness

⁵ Now this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you—that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with Him and keep walking in the darkness, we are lying and do not practice the truth. ^{[a] 7} But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin.

Cleansing Begins with Confessing

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ^{[b] 10} If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.