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.
The Response to God’s Rebuke
6 “(A)Come, let us return to the Lord.
For (B)He has torn us, but (C)He will heal us;
He has [a]wounded us, but He will (D)bandage us.
2 “He will (E)revive us after two days;
He will (F)raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
3 “So let us (G)know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His (H)going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the (I)rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, O (J)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
For your [b]loyalty is like a (K)morning cloud
And like the dew which goes away early.
5 Therefore I have (L)hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the (M)words of My mouth;
And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.
6 For (N)I delight in loyalty (O)rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But (P)like [c]Adam they have (Q)transgressed the covenant;
There they have (R)dealt treacherously against Me.
8 (S)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with (T)bloody footprints.
9 And as (U)raiders wait for a man,
So a band of priests (V)murder on the way to Shechem;
Surely they have committed [d](W)crime.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a (X)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s (Y)harlotry is there, Israel has defiled itself.
30 (A)What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even (B)the righteousness which is [a]by faith; 31 but Israel, (C)pursuing a law of righteousness, did not (D)arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it [b]by faith, but as though it were [c]by works. They stumbled over (E)the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written,
“(F)Behold, I lay in Zion (G)a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
(H)And he who believes in Him (I)will not be [d]disappointed.”
The Word of Faith Brings Salvation
10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have (J)a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about (K)God’s righteousness and (L)seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For (M)Christ is the [e]end of the law for righteousness to (N)everyone who believes.
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