Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Fairness
A shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I trust in you for protection.
Save me and rescue me
from those who are chasing me.
2 Otherwise, they will tear me apart like a lion.
They will rip me to pieces, and no one can save me.
3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something wrong?
4 Have I done wrong to my friend?
Have I stolen from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
Let him trample me into the dust.
Let him bury me in the ground. Selah
6 Lord, rise up in your anger.
Stand up against my enemies’ anger.
Get up and demand fairness.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and rule them from above.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, defend me.
Prove that I am right.
Show that I have done no wrong, God Most High.
9 God, you do what is right.
You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people.
And help those who do what is right.
10 God Most High protects me like a shield.
He saves those whose hearts are right.
11 God judges by what is right.
And God is always ready to punish the wicked.
12 If they do not change their lives,
God will sharpen his sword.
He will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons.
He has made his flaming arrows.
14 There are people who think up evil.
They plan trouble and tell lies.
15 They dig a hole to trap other people.
But they will fall into it themselves.
16 They themselves will get into trouble.
The violence they cause will hurt only themselves.
17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
I sing praises to the name of the Lord Most High.
Israel Needs a Change of Heart
5 Listen to this funeral song that I sing about you, people of Israel.
2 “Israel has fallen.
It will not rise up again.
It was left alone in the land.
There is no one to lift it up.”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
“If 1,000 soldiers leave a city,
only 100 will return.
If 100 soldiers leave a city,
only 10 will return.”
4 This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel:
“Come to me and live.
5 But do not look in Bethel.
Do not go to Gilgal,
and do not go down to Beersheba.
The people of Gilgal will be taken away as captives.
And Bethel will become nothing.”
6 Come to the Lord and live.
If you don’t, he will destroy the descendants of Joseph as a fire would.
The fire will burn.
But there will be no one to put it out for Bethel.
7 You change the justice of the courts into something unfair.
You reject what is right.
8 God is the one who made the star groups Pleiades and Orion.
He changes darkness into the morning light.
And he changes the day into the dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
to pour out on the earth.
The Lord is his name.
9 He destroys the protected city.
And he ruins the strong, walled city.
The King Will Judge All People
31 “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory. All his angels will come with him. He will be King and sit on his great throne. 32 All the people of the world will be gathered before him. Then he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep, the good people, on his right and the goats, the bad people, on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to the good people on his right, ‘Come. My Father has given you his blessing. Come and receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. 36 I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then the good people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me. God has said that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever. That fire was prepared for the devil and his helpers. 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you alone and away from home? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?’
45 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth. Anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46 “These people will go off to be punished forever. But the good people will go to live forever.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.