Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 85[a]
For the music director, written by the Korahites, a psalm.
85 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the well-being of Jacob.[b]
2 You pardoned[c] the wrongdoing of your people;
you forgave[d] all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your fury;
you turned back from your raging anger.[e]
4 Restore us, O God our deliverer.
Do not be displeased with us.[f]
5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations?[g]
6 Will you not revive us once more?
Then your people will rejoice in you.
7 O Lord, show us your loyal love.
Bestow on us your deliverance.
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.[h]
For he will make[i] peace with his people, his faithful followers.[j]
Yet they must not[k] return to their foolish ways.
9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance;[l]
then his splendor will again appear in our land.[m]
10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet;[n]
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss.[o]
11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky.[p]
12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings,[q]
and our land will yield[r] its crops.
13 Deliverance goes[s] before him,
and prepares[t] a pathway for him.[u]
Announcement of Sin and Judgment
5 Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites![a]
Listen closely,[b] O king![c]
For judgment is about to overtake you.[d]
For you were like a trap[e] to Mizpah,[f]
like a net[g] spread out to catch Tabor.[h]
2 Those who revolt are knee-deep in slaughter,[i]
but I will discipline them all.[j]
3 I know Ephraim all too well;[k]
the evil of[l] Israel is not hidden from me.
For you have engaged in prostitution, O Ephraim;
Israel has defiled itself.[m]
4 Their wicked deeds do not allow them to return to their God;
for a spirit of idolatry[n] is in them,
and they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against it;
Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown[o] because[p] of their iniquity.
Even Judah will be brought down[q] with them.
The Futility of Sacrificial Ritual without Moral Obedience
6 Although they bring their flocks and herds[r]
to seek[s] the favor of the Lord,[t]
They will not find him—
he has withdrawn himself from them!
7 They have committed treason[u] against the Lord,
because they bore illegitimate children.
Soon[v] the new moon festival will devour them and their fields.
The Prophet’s Declaration of Judgment
8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah!
Sound the trumpet in Ramah!
Sound the alarm in Beth Aven;[w]
tremble in fear,[x] O Benjamin!
9 Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment.[y]
What I am declaring[z] to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place![aa]
The Oppressors of the Helpless Will Be Oppressed
10 The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers.
I will pour out my rage on them like a torrential flood.[ab]
11 Ephraim will be oppressed,[ac] crushed[ad] under judgment,[ae]
because he was determined to pursue worthless idols.[af]
The Curse of the Incurable Wound
12 I will be like a moth to Ephraim,
like wood rot[ag] to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw[ah] his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
then Ephraim turned[ai] to Assyria,
and begged[aj] its great king[ak] for help.
But he will not be able to heal you.
He cannot cure your wound![al]
The Lion Will Carry Israel Off Into Exile
14 I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I myself will tear them to pieces,
then I will carry them off, and no one will be able to rescue them!
15 Then I will return again to my lair
until they have suffered their punishment.[am]
Then they will seek me;[an]
in their distress they will earnestly seek me.
22 “Men of Israel,[a] listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds,[b] wonders, and miraculous signs[c] that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know— 23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed[d] by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.[e] 24 But God raised him up,[f] having released[g] him from the pains[h] of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.[i] 25 For David says about him,
‘I saw the Lord always in front of me,[j]
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;
my body[k] also will live in hope,
27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades,[l]
nor permit your Holy One to experience[m] decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of joy with your presence.’[n]
29 “Brothers,[o] I can speak confidently[p] to you about our forefather[q] David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 So then, because[r] he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants[s] on his throne,[t] 31 David by foreseeing this[u] spoke about the resurrection of the Christ,[v] that he was neither abandoned to Hades,[w] nor did his body[x] experience[y] decay.[z] 32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it.[aa] 33 So then, exalted[ab] to the right hand[ac] of God, and having received[ad] the promise of the Holy Spirit[ae] from the Father, he has poured out[af] what you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit[ag] at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies a footstool[ah] for your feet.”’[ai]
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt[aj] that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified[ak] both Lord[al] and Christ.”[am]
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