Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story –
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
³ those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.^[a]

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
⁵ They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
⁶ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
⁷ He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
⁸ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

⁴³ Let the one who is wise heed these things
    and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

⁷ ‘They sow the wind
    and reap the whirlwind.
The stalk has no head;
    it will produce no flour.
Were it to yield grain,
    foreigners would swallow it up.
⁸ Israel is swallowed up;
    now she is among the nations
    like something no one wants.
⁹ For they have gone up to Assyria
    like a wild donkey wandering alone.
    Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
¹⁰ Although they have sold themselves among the nations,
    I will now gather them together.
They will begin to waste away
    under the oppression of the mighty king.

¹¹ ‘Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
    these have become altars for sinning.
¹² I wrote for them the many things of my law,
    but they regarded them as something foreign.
¹³ Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.
Now he will remember their wickedness
    and punish their sins:
    they will return to Egypt.
¹⁴ Israel has forgotten his Maker
    and built palaces;
    Judah has fortified many towns.
But I will send fire on their cities
    that will consume their fortresses.’