Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.
71 (A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 (B)In Your righteousness rescue me and save me;
(C)Extend Your ear to me and help me.
3 (D)Be to me a rock of (E)dwelling to which I may continually come;
You have given the (F)commandment to save me,
For You are (G)my rock and my fortress.
4 (H)Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
From the [a]grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,
5 For You are my (I)hope;
Lord [b]God, You are my (J)confidence from my youth.
6 I have (K)leaned on You since my birth;
You are He who (L)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (M)praise is continually [c]of You.
The Coming Destruction of Jerusalem
6 “Flee to safety, you sons of (A)Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a warning signal over [a](B)Beth-haccerem;
For evil looks down from the (C)north,
Along with a great destruction.
2 The beautiful and (D)delicate one, (E)the daughter of Zion, I will destroy.
3 (F)Shepherds and their flocks will come to her,
They will (G)pitch their tents [b]around her,
They will pasture, each in his [c]place.
4 ‘[d](H)Prepare for war against her;
Arise, and let’s [e]attack at (I)noon.
Woe to us, for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let’s [f]attack by night
And (J)destroy her [g]palaces!’”
6 For this is what the Lord of armies says:
“(K)Cut down her trees
And pile up an (L)assault ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
In whose midst there is only (M)oppression.
7 (N)As a well [h]keeps its waters fresh,
So she [i]keeps fresh her wickedness.
(O)Violence and destruction are heard in her;
(P)Sickness and wounds are constantly before Me.
8 (Q)Be warned, Jerusalem,
Or [j](R)I shall be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
An uninhabited land.”
9 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“They will (S)thoroughly glean the (T)remnant of Israel like the vine;
Pass your hand over the branches again
Like a grape gatherer.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Behold, their (U)ears are [k]closed
And they cannot listen.
Behold, (V)the word of the Lord has become for them a rebuke;
They take no delight in it.
11 But I am (W)full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am (X)weary of holding it in.
“(Y)Pour it out on the children in the street
And on the [l]gathering of young men together;
For both husband and wife shall be taken,
The old [m]and the very old.
12 Their (Z)houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together;
For I will (AA)stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord.
13 “For (AB)from the least of them to the greatest of them,
Everyone is (AC)greedy for gain,
And from the prophet to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have (AD)healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
15 Were they (AE)ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They were not ashamed at all,
Nor did they know even how to be ashamed.
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them,
They will collapse,” says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the (AF)ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
Then (AG)you will find a resting place for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 And I set (AH)watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, you congregation, what is among them.
19 (AI)Hear, earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The (AJ)fruit of their [n]plans,
Because they have not listened to My words,
And as for My Law, they have (AK)rejected it also.
3 For (A)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary [a](B)and lose heart.
A Father’s Discipline
4 (C)You have not yet resisted [b](D)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“(E)My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor (F)faint when you are punished by Him;
6 (G)For (H)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; (I)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, (J)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had [c]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we (K)respected them; shall we not much more be subject to (L)the Father of [d]spirits, and (M)live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, (N)so that we may share His holiness. 11 (O)For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the (P)peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, [e](Q)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and (R)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather (S)be healed.
14 (T)Pursue peace with all people, and the (U)holiness without which no one will (V)see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one (W)comes short of the grace of God; that no (X)root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become (Y)defiled; 16 that there be no (Z)sexually immoral or (AA)godless person like Esau, (AB)who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterward, (AC)when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
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