Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my (AG)humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Restoration of Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
(A)Bring her into the wilderness
And speak [a]kindly to her.
15 “Then I will give her her (B)vineyards from there,
And (C)the valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will [b](D)sing there as in the days of her youth,
As in the (E)day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me [c](F)Ishi
And will no longer call Me [d]Baali.
17 “For (G)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will be [e]mentioned by their names no more.
18 “In that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the (H)beasts of the field,
The birds of the sky
And the creeping things of the ground.
And I will [f](I)abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land,
And will make them (J)lie down in safety.
19 “I will (K)betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in (L)righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will (M)know the Lord.
21 “It will come about in that day that (N)I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the (O)earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil,
And they will respond to [g]Jezreel.
23 “I will (P)sow her for Myself in the land.
(Q)I will also have compassion on [h]her who had not obtained compassion,
And (R)I will say to [i]those who were (S)not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And [j]they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage
3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a [k]woman who is loved by her [l]husband, yet an adulteress, even (T)as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin (U)cakes.” 2 So I (V)bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a [m]half of barley. 3 Then I said to her, “You shall (W)stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a [n]man; so I will also be toward you.” 4 For the sons of Israel will remain for many days (X)without king or prince, (Y)without sacrifice or sacred (Z)pillar and without (AA)ephod or [o](AB)household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will (AC)return and seek the Lord their God and (AD)David their king; and (AE)they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.
16 Therefore no one is to [a](A)act as your judge in regard to (B)food or (C)drink or in respect to a (D)festival or a (E)new moon or a (F)Sabbath [b]day— 17 things which are (G)a mere shadow of what is to come; but the [c]substance [d]belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep [e](H)defrauding you of your prize by (I)delighting in [f]self-abasement and the worship of the angels, [g]taking his stand on visions he has seen, [h](J)inflated without cause by his (K)fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to (L)the head, from whom (M)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and [i]ligaments, grows with a growth [j]which is from God.
20 (N)If you have died with Christ [k]to the (O)elementary principles of the world, (P)why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to (Q)decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer (R)to things destined to perish [l]with use)—in accordance with the (S)commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the [m]appearance of wisdom in [n](T)self-made religion and self-abasement and (U)severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against (V)fleshly indulgence.
Put On the New Self
3 Therefore if you have been (W)raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, (X)seated at the right hand of God.
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