Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I ·give myself [L lift my soul] to you;
2 my God, I ·trust [have confidence in] you.
Do not let me be ·disgraced [shamed];
do not let my enemies ·laugh at [triumph/exult over] me.
3 No one who ·trusts [hopes in; waits on] you will be ·disgraced [shamed],
but those who ·sin [betray; are treacherous] without excuse will be ·disgraced [shamed].
4 Lord, ·tell me [make me know] your ways.
·Show [L Teach] me ·how to live [L your paths].
5 ·Guide [Lead] me in your truth,
and teach me, my God, my ·Savior [Helper; Victor].
I ·trust [hope in; wait on] you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your ·mercy [compassion] and ·love [loyalty; covenant love]
that you have shown since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and ·wrong things I did when I was young [transgressions of my youth].
But remember ·to love me [L according to your love/loyalty/covenant love] always
·because you are good [on account of your goodness], Lord.
8 The Lord is good and ·right [upright; virtuous];
he ·points [instructs] sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are humble how to do right,
and he teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ·ways [paths] are ·loving [loyal] and ·true [reliable]
for those who ·follow [keep; guard] the demands of his ·agreement [covenant].
6 You ·are the only [alone are the] Lord.
You made the ·heavens [sky], even the ·highest [L heavens of the] heavens,
with all ·the stars [L their hosts].
You made the earth and everything on it,
the seas and everything in them;
you give life to everything.
The heavenly ·army [host] worships you.
7 “You are the ·Lord,
the God [or Lord God,] who chose Abram
and brought him ·out of [forth from] Ur ·in Babylonia [L of the Chaldeans; Gen. 12:1–3]
and named [C renamed] him Abraham [Gen. 17:5].
8 You found ·him [L his heart] faithful to you,
so you made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with him
to give his ·descendants [L seed] the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites.
You have ·kept [fulfilled] your ·promise [word],
because you ·do what is right [are righteous].
9 “You saw our ·ancestors [fathers] ·suffering [miserable; afflicted; in distress] in Egypt
and heard them cry out ·at [beside] the ·Red Sea [L Sea of Reeds; Ex. 14–15].
10 You ·did [performed; displayed] signs and ·miracles [wonders] against ·the king of Egypt [L Pharaoh],
and against all his ·officers [officials; servants] and all the people of his land,
because you knew how ·proud [arrogant; insolent] they were to them [C Israel’s ancestors].
You ·became as famous [L made a name for yourself] ·as you are today [which remains to this day].
11 You ·divided [split; opened] the sea in front of ·our ancestors [L them];
they ·walked [passed] through the sea on dry ground [Ex. 14–15].
But you threw ·the people chasing them into the deep water [their pursuers into the depths],
like a stone thrown into ·mighty [raging; surging] waters.
12 You ·led [guided] ·our ancestors [L them] with a ·pillar [column] of cloud by day
and with a ·pillar [column] of fire at night [Ex. 13:21].
It lit the way
they were supposed to go.
13 You came down ·to [on; at] Mount Sinai
and spoke from heaven to ·our ancestors [L them].
You gave them ·fair [just] ·rules [judgments] and true ·teachings [laws; instructions; L Torah],
good ·orders [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and commands.
14 You ·told [revealed; made known to] them about your holy Sabbath [Ex. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15]
and gave them commands, ·orders [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and ·teachings [laws; instructions; L Torah]
through your servant Moses.
15 When they were hungry, you gave them bread from heaven [C the manna; Ex. 16:31].
When they were thirsty, you brought them water from ·the [a] rock [Ex. 17:1–7; Num. 20:1–13].
You told them to enter and ·take over [possess]
the land you had ·promised [sworn; L raised your hand] to give them.
Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming
5 Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to write you about times and ·dates [seasons; C related to end-time events]. 2 You know ·very well [accurately] that the ·day the Lord comes again [L day of the Lord; C the time of Christ’s return and the judgments associated with it] will ·be a surprise, like a thief that comes in the night [L come like a thief in the night]. 3 While people are saying, “·We have peace and we are safe [L Peace and safety/security],” they will be destroyed ·quickly [suddenly]. It is like pains that come quickly to a woman having a baby. Those people will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not ·living in darkness [L in darkness], and so that day will not ·surprise you [or overtake you] like a thief. 5 [L For] You are all ·people who belong to the light [L children/sons of the light] and ·who belong to [L children/sons of] the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness. 6 So we should not be like other people who are sleeping [C spiritually], but we should be ·alert [awake] and ·have self-control [sober]. 7 [L For] Those who sleep sleep at night. Those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But we belong to the day, so we should ·control ourselves [be sober]. We should ·wear faith and love to protect us [L put on the breastplate/body armor of faith and love], and the hope of salvation should be our helmet [Is. 59:17]. 9 God did not ·choose [appoint; destine] us ·to suffer his anger [L for wrath] but to ·have [receive; gain; possess] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 ·Jesus [L …who] died for us so that we can live together with him, whether we are ·alive [L awake] or ·dead [L asleep] when he comes. 11 So encourage each other and ·give each other strength [build each other up], just as you are doing now.
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