Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 60
Prayer for National Victory after Defeat
To the leader: according to the Lily of the Covenant. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; now restore us!(A)
2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering.(B)
3 You have made your people suffer hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.(C)
4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
to rally to it out of bowshot.[a] Selah(D)
5 Give victory with your right hand and answer us,[b]
so that those whom you love may be rescued.(E)
Relentless Judgment on Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.(A)
2 And now they keep on sinning
and make a cast image for themselves,
idols of silver made according to their understanding,
all of them the work of artisans.
“Sacrifice to these,” they say.[a]
People are kissing calves!(B)
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
or like the dew that goes away early,
like chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or like smoke from a window.(C)
4 Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.(D)
5 It was I who fed[b] you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.(E)
6 When I fed[c] them, they were satisfied;
they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
therefore they forgot me.(F)
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.(G)
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs
and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild animal would mangle them.
9 I will destroy you, O Israel;
who can help you?[d]
10 Where now is[e] your king, that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and rulers”?(H)
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.(I)
12 Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.(J)
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.(K)
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are[f] your plagues?
O Sheol, where is[g] your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(L)
15 Although he may flourish among rushes,[h]
the east wind shall come, a blast from the Lord,
rising from the wilderness,
and his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched.
It shall strip his treasury
of every precious thing.(M)
16 [i]Samaria shall bear her guilt
because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open.(N)
Further Instructions
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.(A) 3 At the same time, pray for us as well, that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison,(B) 4 so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.
5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.[a](C) 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.(D)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.