Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[m](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
Message at the Temple Gate
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “(A)Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’” 3 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. 4 (C)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘[a]This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 For (D)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly (E)practice justice between a person and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the [b](F)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed (G)innocent blood in this place, nor (H)follow other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you (I)live in this place, in the (J)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in (K)deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, [c](L)offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow (M)other gods that you have not known, 10 then (N)come and stand before Me in (O)this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may do all these abominations? 11 Has (P)this house, which is called by My name, become a (Q)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, (R)I Myself have seen it,” declares the Lord.
12 “But go now to My place which was in (S)Shiloh, where I (T)made My name dwell at the beginning, and (U)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, (V)speaking again and again, but you did not listen, and I (W)called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the (X)house which is called by My name, (Y)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I (Z)did to Shiloh. 15 I will (AA)hurl you out of My sight, just as I have hurled out all your brothers, all the [d]descendants of (AB)Ephraim.
7 Therefore, just as (A)the Holy Spirit says,
“(B)Today if you hear His voice,
8 (C)Do not harden your hearts as [a]when they provoked Me,
As on the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 (D)Where your fathers put Me to the test,
And saw My works for (E)forty years.
10 (F)Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;
11 (G)As I swore in My anger,
‘They certainly shall not enter My rest.’”
The Danger of Unbelief
12 (H)Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [b]that falls away from (I)the living God. 13 But (J)encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (K)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ (L)if we keep the beginning of our [c](M)commitment firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
16 For who (O)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (P)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (Q)whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (R)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (S)disobedient? 19 And so we see that they were not able to enter because of (T)unbelief.
The Believer’s Rest
4 Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have (U)come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but (V)the word [e]they heard did not benefit them, because [f]they were not united with those who listened with faith. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“(W)As I swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished (X)from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said (Y)somewhere concerning the seventh day: “(Z)And God (AA)rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “(AB)They certainly shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of (AC)disobedience, 7 He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying [g]through David after so long a time just (AD)as has been said before,
“(AE)Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For (AF)if [h]Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also (AG)rested from his works, as (AH)God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same (AI)example of (AJ)disobedience.
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