Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem.
44 We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us
The work You did in their days,
In the days of old.
2
You drove out the [pagan] nations with Your own hand;
Then you planted and established them (Israel);
[It was by Your power that] You uprooted the [pagan] peoples,
Then You spread them abroad.
3
For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them,
But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,
Because You favored and delighted in them.
4
You are my King, O God;
Command victories and deliverance for Jacob (Israel).
5
Through You we will gore our enemies [like a bull];
Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.
6
For I will not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7
But You have saved us from our enemies,
And You have put them to shame and humiliated those who hate us.
8
In God we have boasted all the day long,
And we will praise and give thanks to Your name forever. Selah.
9
But now You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And You do not go out with our armies [to lead us to victory].
10
You make us turn back from the enemy,
And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves.
11
You have made us like sheep to be eaten [as mutton]
And have scattered us [in exile] among the nations.
12
You sell Your people cheaply,
And have not increased Your wealth by their sale.
13
You have made us the reproach and taunt of our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to those around us.
14
You make us a byword among the nations,
A [a]laughingstock among the people.
15
My dishonor is before me all day long,
And humiliation has covered my face,
16
Because of the voice of the taunter and reviler,
Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
17
All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].
18
Our heart has not turned back,
Nor have our steps wandered from Your path,
19
Yet You have [distressingly] crushed us in the place of jackals
And covered us with [the deep darkness of] the shadow of death.
20
If we had forgotten the name of our God
Or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21
Would not God discover this?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22
[b]But for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.(A)
23
Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?
Awaken, do not reject us forever.
24
Why do You hide Your face
And forget our affliction and our oppression?
25
For our life has melted away into the dust;
Our body clings to the ground.
26
Rise up! Come be our help,
And ransom us for the sake of Your steadfast love.
11
Also, O Judah, there is a harvest [of divine judgment] appointed for you,
When I restore the fortunes of My people [who have been slaves to the misery of sin].
Ephraim’s Sin
7 When I would heal Israel,
The sin (guilt) of Ephraim is uncovered,
And the wickedness of [a]Samaria,
Because they practice false dealing;
The thief enters,
Bandits ravage and raid outside.
2
But they do not consider in their hearts (minds)
That I remember [always] all their wickedness.
Now their deeds surround and entangle them;
They are before My face.
3
They make the king glad with their wickedness,
And the princes with their lies.
4
They are all adulterers;
Like the heat of an oven
When the baker ceases to stir the fire, [their passion smolders]
From the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
5
On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).
6
As they approach their plotting,
Their mind burns [with intrigue] like an oven [while they lie in wait].
Their anger smolders all night;
In the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
7
They are all hot like an oven
And they consume their judges (rulers);
All their kings have fallen.
There is no one among them who calls to Me.
8
Ephraim mixes himself with the [Gentile] nations [seeking favor with one country, then another];
Ephraim is a cake not turned [worthless; ready to be thrown away].
9
Strangers have devoured his strength,
Yet he does not know it;
Gray hairs are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know.
10
Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they do not return [in repentance] to the Lord their God,
Nor seek nor search for nor desire Him [as essential] in spite of all this.
11
Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without heart or good sense;
They call to Egypt [for help], they go to Assyria.
12
When they go, I will spread My net over them;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens [into Assyrian captivity].
I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation (prophecy) to their congregation.(A)
13
Woe (judgment is coming) to them, for they have wandered away from Me!
Devastation is theirs, because they have rebelled and trespassed against Me!
I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.
14
They do not cry out to Me from their heart
When they wail on their beds [in unbelieving despair];
For the sake of grain and new wine they [b]assemble themselves [as if worshiping Baal];
They rebel against Me.
15
Although I trained and strengthened their arms [for victory over their enemies],
Yet they devise evil against Me.
16
They turn, but they do not turn upward to the Most High.
They are like a poorly crafted bow [that misses the mark];
Their princes shall fall by the sword
Because of the insolence of their tongue.
This will be cause for their mockery and disdain in the land of Egypt.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’(A) 44 But I say to you, [a]love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,(B) 45 so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. 46 For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? 48 You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.(C)
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