Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, you have been kind to your land;
you brought back the people of Jacob.
2 You forgave the guilt of the people
and covered all their sins. Selah
3 You stopped all your anger;
you turned back from your strong anger.
4 God our Savior, bring us back again.
Stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you stay angry from now on?
6 Won’t you give us life again?
Your people would rejoice in you.
7 Lord, show us your love,
and save us.
8 I will listen to God the Lord.
He has ordered peace for those who worship him.
Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
9 God will soon save those who respect him,
and his glory will be seen in our land.
10 Love and truth belong to God’s people;
goodness and peace will be theirs.
11 On earth people will be loyal to God,
and God’s goodness will shine down from heaven.
12 The Lord will give his goodness,
and the land will give its crops.
13 Goodness will go before God
and prepare the way for him.
God’s Word Against the Leaders
5 “Listen, you priests.
Pay attention, people of Israel.
Listen, royal family,
because you will all be judged.
You have been like a trap at Mizpah
and like a net spread out at Mount Tabor.
2 You have done many evil things,
so I will punish you all.
3 I know all about the people of Israel;
what they have done is not hidden from me.
Now that Israel acts like a prostitute,
it has made itself unclean.
4 “They will not give up their deeds
and return to their God.
They are determined to be unfaithful to me;
they do not know the Lord.
5 Israel’s pride testifies against them.
The people of Israel will stumble because of their sin,
and the people of Judah will stumble with them.
6 They will come to worship the Lord,
bringing their flocks and herds,
but they will not be able to find him,
because he has left them.
7 They have not been true to the Lord;
they are children who do not belong to him.
So their false worship
will destroy them and their land.
8 “Blow the horn in Gibeah
and the trumpet in Ramah.
Give the warning at Beth Aven,
and be first into battle, people of Benjamin.
9 Israel will be ruined
on the day of punishment.
To the tribes of Israel
I tell the truth.
10 The leaders of Judah are like those
who steal other people’s land.
I will pour my punishment over them
like a flood of water.
11 Israel is crushed by the punishment,
because it decided to follow idols.
12 I am like a moth to Israel,
like a rot to the people of Judah.
13 “When Israel saw its illness
and Judah saw its wounds,
Israel went to Assyria for help
and sent to the great king of Assyria.
But he cannot heal you
or cure your wounds.
14 I will be like a lion to Israel,
like a young lion to Judah.
I will attack them
and tear them to pieces.
I will drag them off,
and no one will be able to save them.
15 Then I will go back to my place
until they suffer for their guilt and turn back to me.
In their trouble they will look for me.”
22 “People of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you by the miracles, wonders, and signs he did through Jesus. You all know this, because it happened right here among you. 23 Jesus was given to you, and with the help of those who don’t know the law, you put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But this was God’s plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen. 24 God raised Jesus from the dead and set him free from the pain of death, because death could not hold him. 25 For David said this about him:
‘I keep the Lord before me always.
Because he is close by my side,
I will not be hurt.
26 So I am glad, and I rejoice.
Even my body has hope,
27 because you will not leave me in the grave.
You will not let your Holy One rot.
28 You will teach me how to live a holy life.
Being with you will fill me with joy.’ Psalm 16:8–11
29 “Brothers and sisters, I can tell you truly that David, our ancestor, died and was buried. His grave is still here with us today. 30 He was a prophet and knew God had promised him that he would make a person from David’s family a king just as he was.[a] 31 Knowing this before it happened, David talked about the Christ rising from the dead. He said:
‘He was not left in the grave.
His body did not rot.’
32 So Jesus is the One whom God raised from the dead. And we are all witnesses to this. 33 Jesus was lifted up to heaven and is now at God’s right side. The Father has given the Holy Spirit to Jesus as he promised. So Jesus has poured out that Spirit, and this is what you now see and hear. 34 David was not the one who was lifted up to heaven, but he said:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right side,
35 until I put your enemies under your control.”’[b] Psalm 110:1
36 “So, all the people of Israel should know this truly: God has made Jesus—the man you nailed to the cross—both Lord and Christ.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.