Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
15 For the Lord Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, said this:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
your strength shall be in quietness and in trust.”
But[a] you were not willing, 16 and you said,
“No! For we will flee on horses!”[b] Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses!”[c] Therefore your pursuers shall be swift!
17 One thousand because of[d] a threat of one,
because[e] of a threat of five you shall flee,
until you are left like a flagstaff on top[f] of a mountain,
and like a signal on a hill.
Yahweh Will Show Mercy
18 Therefore Yahweh waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he will rise up to show you mercy,
for Yahweh is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
The Rest that Remains for the People of God
4 Therefore let us fear, while there[a] remains a promise of entering into his rest, that none of you appear to fall short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us[b], just as those also did, but the message they heard[c] did not benefit them, because they[d] were not united with those who heard it in faith. 3 For we who have believed enter into rest,[e] just as he has said,
And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[h] 5 and in this passage again, ‘They will never enter[i] into my rest.’”[j] 6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter into it, and the ones to whom the good news was proclaimed previously did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again he ordains a certain day, today, speaking by David after so long a time, just as had been said before,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”[k]
8 For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things. 9 Consequently a sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered into his rest has also himself rested from his works, just as God did from his own works.
11 Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we must give our account[l].
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