Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is a special song that the sons of Korah wrote for the music leader.
God, please help us![a]
44 God, we have heard it for ourselves.
Our ancestors told us
what you did for them a long time ago.
2 You used your power to chase away the other nations,
so that our ancestors could live in their land.
You punished those nations,
and you helped our ancestors to be free.
3 Our ancestors did not get the land
by the power of their own swords.
Their own strength did not win the fight.
It was your own power and strength that did it!
You were kind to them because you were their friend.
4 God, you are my king!
You command that Jacob's descendants
must win against their enemies.
5 Because of your power,
we can knock down our enemies.
Because of your strength,
we can beat them down.
6 I do not trust in my bow and arrows.
It is not my sword
that has helped me to win the fight.
7 It is you who rescues us from our enemies.
You bring shame on the people that hate us.
8 Every day, we praise you, God.
We will always thank you, all the time,
because you are great!
Selah.
9 But now you have turned against us.
You have made us ashamed.
When our armies go out to fight a battle,
you no longer go with us.
10 You make us run away from our enemies.
The people who hate us take from us whatever they like!
11 You have put us under their power,
so that they kill us like sheep for them to eat.
You have sent us away
to live in foreign countries.
12 You have sold your own people,
for almost nothing!
They had no value to you.
13 The people who live in countries near us
do not respect us.
They laugh at us
and they insult us.
14 The other nations tell jokes about us.
They think that we are nothing.
15 I feel ashamed all the time.
I do not know where to look.
16 This is because my cruel enemies are always insulting me.
All they want is to hurt me.
17 We have not turned away from you,
but all this has happened to us.
We have not turned against the covenant that you made with us.
18 We have continued to serve you
and obey your commands.
19 But you have broken us in pieces.
You have left us for wild dogs to eat.
You have covered us with the darkness of death.
20 We might have turned against you, our God,
and worshipped a strange god.
21 But if we had done that,
you would have discovered it.
You know even our most secret thoughts.
22 But, because we are your people, God,
people try to kill us all the time.
They think that we are like sheep
and we are ready to be killed.
23 Lord, do something!
Why are you sleeping? Wake up!
Do not turn away from us for ever!
24 Why do you turn away from us?
Why do you forget our troubles
and the way that people hurt us?
25 We have fallen down in the dirt.
Our bodies are lying on the ground.
26 Wake up and help us!
Save us, because of your faithful love.
11 People of Judah, I will also punish you when the right time comes.
But I do want to bring my people back.’
7 ‘Yes, I want to make the people of Israel healthy again,
but I see how great their sins are.
Samaria's people do many evil things.
They deceive one another,
they take things from other people's homes,
and they attack people in the streets to rob them.
2 They do not understand that I remember all their sins.
The wicked things that they do are everywhere.
Wherever they go, I see their sins very clearly.[a]
The king does not rule well
3 The king is happy to see the evil things that his people do.
The leaders are also happy when the people cheat and tell lies.
4 None of them serves me faithfully.
They are always ready to do bad things,
like an oven that has a hot fire inside it.
When the baker is ready to bake his bread,
he makes the fire even hotter.[b]
5 On a day when the king has a feast,
the leaders drink too much wine.
The king and the leaders join with other people to do foolish things.
6 But the leaders are planning to murder the king.
Their anger is like the fire of an oven.
It burns slowly inside them all through the night.
But in the morning the fire is too strong to hold.
7 They are so angry that they kill their rulers.
Now all their kings are dead.
None of them calls out to me for help.’
Israel's people refuse to change
8 ‘Ephraim's people have mixed themselves with people of other nations.[c]
So they have become useless, like bread that is not properly cooked.[d]
9 Foreign people have taken away Israel's strength.
But the Israelites do not realize what is happening!
They have become like an old man with grey hair.
But they do not realize how weak they are.
10 Israel's people are too proud to change.
This shows that they are guilty.
They still refuse to turn back to me, the Lord their God.
In all their troubles, they do not look for my help.
11 Ephraim has become like a silly dove.[e]
He cannot decide where to go.
The Israelites ask Egypt to help them.
Then they decide to ask Assyria instead.
12 When they fly around like that,
I will throw my net over them.
I will catch them like birds that fly in the sky.
I will punish them as they join together to do evil things.
13 Terrible trouble will happen to them,
because they have gone away from me.
They have turned against me, so they will die.
I wanted to rescue them,
but they have told lies about me.
14 They do not pray and trust me to help them.
Instead, they lie down on their beds and they weep loudly.
They cut their bodies to get grain and wine.[f]
They turn away from me.
15 I taught them what was right. I made them strong.
But now they have decided to do evil things against me.
16 They do not look up to me for help.
They are as useless as a bow that cannot shoot an arrow properly.
Their leaders are proud of their own strength,
but they will die in battle.
Then the people of Egypt will laugh at them.’
43 You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.” 44 What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people want to give you pain, pray for them. Pray that God would help them. 45 If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him. 46 Do you only love people who love you? God will not give you good things just for doing that. Even the men who take taxes love their friends![a]
47 If you are only kind to your friends, then you are not doing anything special. Even people who do not believe in God do that. 48 So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’
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