Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting;
he judges among the “gods.”
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the weak and the orphans;
defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless;
free them from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth,
because you own all the nations.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and told the prophets not to prophesy.
13 Now I will make you get stuck,
as a wagon loaded with grain gets stuck.
14 No one will escape, not even the fastest runner.
Strong people will not be strong enough;
warriors will not be able to save themselves.
15 Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight,
and even fast runners will not get away;
soldiers on horses will not escape alive.
16 At that time even the bravest warriors
will run away without their armor,” says the Lord.
Warning to Israel
3 Listen to this word that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family he brought out of Egypt.
2 “I have chosen only you
out of all the families of the earth,
so I will punish you
for all your sins.”
3 Two people will not walk together
unless they have agreed to do so.
4 A lion in the forest does not roar
unless it has caught an animal;
it does not growl in its den
when it has caught nothing.
5 A bird will not fall into a trap
where there is no bait;
the trap will not spring shut
if there is nothing to catch.
6 When a trumpet blows a warning in a city,
the people tremble.
When trouble comes to a city,
the Lord has caused it.
7 Before the Lord God does anything,
he tells his plans to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared!
Who wouldn’t be afraid?
The Lord God has spoken.
Who will not prophesy?
16 “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. 21 But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.