Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.
71 (A)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (B)In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
(C)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (D)Be to me a rock of (E)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given (F)commandment to save me,
For You are (G)my [a]rock and my fortress.
4 (H)Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [b]grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (I)hope;
O Lord [c]God, You are my (J)confidence from my youth.
6 [d]By You I have been (K)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (L)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (M)praise is continually [e]of You.
Destruction of Jerusalem Impending
6 “Flee for safety, O sons of (A)Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a signal over [a](B)Beth-haccerem;
For evil looks down from the (C)north,
And a great destruction.
2 “The comely and (D)dainty one, (E)the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.
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 war against her;
Arise, and let us [e]attack at (I)noon.
Woe to us, for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
5 “Arise, and let us [f]attack by night
And (J)destroy her [g]palaces!”
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts,
“(K)Cut down her trees
And cast up a (L)siege 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 ever before Me.
8 “(Q)Be warned, O Jerusalem,
Or [j](R)I shall be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“They will (S)thoroughly glean as the vine the (T)remnant of Israel;
Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
Over the branches.”
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 a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 But I am (W)full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am (X)weary with 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 aged [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 even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is (AC)greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone [n]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 have done?
They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the (AF)ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And (AG)you will find rest 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, O nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 “(AI)Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The (AJ)fruit of their [o]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 reproved by Him;
6 (G)For those (H)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
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 rather 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 All discipline (O)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards 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 lame may not be put out of joint, but rather (S)be healed.
14 (T)Pursue peace with all men, and the (U)sanctification 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 be (Y)defiled; 16 that there be no (Z)immoral or (AA)godless person like Esau, (AB)who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, (AC)when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.