Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer for National Victory after Defeat
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, thou hast rejected us, broken our defenses;
thou hast been angry; oh, restore us.
2 Thou hast made the land to quake, thou hast rent it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 Thou hast made thy people suffer hard things;
thou hast given us wine to drink that made us reel.
4 Thou hast set up a banner for those who fear thee,
to rally to it from the bow.[a]Selah
5 That thy beloved may be delivered,
give victory by thy right hand and answer us!
6 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[b]
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine; Manas′seh is mine;
E′phraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Hast thou not rejected us, O God?
Thou dost not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11 O grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the help of man!
12 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
Relentless Judgment on Israel
13 When E′phraim spoke, men trembled;
he was exalted in Israel;
but he incurred guilt through Ba′al and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and make for themselves molten images,
idols skilfully made of their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
Sacrifice to these, they say.[a]
Men kiss calves!
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
or like the dew that goes early away,
like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or like smoke from a window.
4 I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no saviour.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 but when they had fed[b] to the full,
they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
7 So I will be to them like a lion,
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild beast would rend them.
9 I will destroy you, O Israel;
who[c] can help you?
10 Where[d] now is your king, to save you;
where are all[e] your princes,[f] to defend you[g]—
those of whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I have given you kings in my anger,
and I have taken them away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of E′phraim is bound up,
his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son;
for now he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where[h] are your plagues?
O Sheol, where[i] is your destruction?
Compassion is hid from my eyes.
15 Though he may flourish as the reed plant,[j]
the east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness;
and his fountain shall dry up,
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip his treasury
of every precious thing.
16 [k] Samar′ia 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.
Further Instructions
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; 3 and pray for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, 4 that I may make it clear, as I ought to speak.
5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.