Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer.
God will judge all people[a]
58 Do you rulers really say what is right?
Do you judge people in a fair way?
2 No! You do not!
You like to think of evil things to do.
You make cruel things happen
everywhere in the land.
3 Wicked people do wrong things from their birth.
As soon as they are born,
they start telling lies.
4 Their words hurt people
like a snake's poison.
They listen to nobody,
like a deaf cobra.
5 It does not obey the voice of the magician,
even if he sings very well![b]
6 God, break the teeth of my enemies!
Yes, Lord, break into pieces
the teeth of those lions!
7 Cause them to run away like water and disappear.
Cause them to die like dry grass in hot weather.
8 Cause them to be like a worm that melts as it moves along.
Cause them to be like a child that is born dead
and never sees the light of day.
9 Remove them quickly,
more quickly than pots become hot over a fire of thorn bushes.[c]
10 When God punishes those wicked people,
righteous people will be very happy.
They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked people!
11 People who see it will say,
‘It is true! God helps good people!
There is a God who judges people on earth in a fair way.’
23 ‘You say, “We have not made ourselves unclean.
We do not worship the idols of Baal.”
But remember what you have done in the valleys.[a]
You hurry to find another idol that you can worship.
Like a female camel, you cannot control yourselves.
24 You are like a wild female donkey that lives in the wilderness.
She lifts her nose to smell the air.
She wants to find a male donkey.
Nobody can control her.
Male donkeys do not have to chase her.
She will come to them to have sex with them.
You are like that as you chase after false gods.
25 Stop running after them!
Your feet will hurt and you will become very thirsty.
You say, “Do not try to stop us! We cannot turn back.
We love foreign gods and we must serve them!”
26 A robber is ashamed when people catch him.
The people of Israel will become ashamed like that.
They will all be ashamed of their sins.
Their kings, their officers, their priests and their prophets are all guilty.
27 They worship a piece of wood,
and they say, “You are my father.”
They say to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
They have not turned to come to me.
Instead, they have turned away from me.
But when trouble comes to them,
they call out to me to rescue them.
28 But where are the gods that you made for yourselves?
Ask them to save you when trouble comes!
You have enough gods to give you help.
Yes, people of Judah,
your gods are as many as your towns!
29 You cannot argue against me.
You have all turned against me.’
That is what the Lord says.
30 ‘When I punished your people,
they did not change how they lived.
When I sent my prophets to you,
you killed them as if you were a hungry lion.’
31 Listen to the Lord's message, you people who are alive today:
‘People of Israel, why do you not trust me?
Have I become like a desert for you?
Have I become a dark and dangerous land for you to live in?
No! But you say, “We are free to go where we like.
We do not need to serve you any more.”
32 A young woman does not forget to wear her jewels.
When a woman marries,
she does not forget to wear her special dress.
But for many years, my people have forgotten me.
33 You are very clever. You can always find someone to love.
Even prostitutes could learn something from you!
34 You have been cruel to poor people for no reason.
Your clothes have their blood on them!
They had not robbed you,
but you still killed them.
You have done all these bad things, but still you say,
35 “We have not done anything that is wrong.
God cannot be angry with us!”
Be careful! I will surely punish you,
because you say, “I am not guilty of any sin.”
36 You try to get help from other nations.
You run here and there to make new friends.
You hoped for help from Assyria,
but no help came.
And you will get no help from Egypt either.
37 You will come away from Egypt with your hands on your heads.
You will be ashamed and upset.
The Lord has turned away from those nations.
You have trusted them to help you,
But you will not receive any help from them.’
7 Remember your leaders, who taught God's message to you. Think about the way in which they have lived and the good things that they have done. They have trusted God, so you should have faith like they have.
8 Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and for ever. 9 Some people teach all kinds of strange new things.[a] Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.
10 Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that saves us. Jewish priests do not have the authority to receive anything from his sacrifice. 11 In the old agreement, the leader of the priests brings the blood from the animal sacrifices into the Most Holy Place. He does that so that God will forgive the sins of the people. But they take the bodies of those animals away from there. They burn them outside the town.[b] 12 In the same way, Jesus also died outside the city.[c] He died as a sacrifice on our behalf. His blood has made his people clean from their sins. 13 Jesus died like that in a place where people insulted him. So we must go out to that place too. We must be ready for people to insult us, as they insulted him. 14 Here on earth, we who are believers do not have a city that will always be our home. But we are waiting for God's city that will come.
15 So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time. 16 Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
17 Respect your leaders and obey them. They watch over your lives on God's behalf. God will check to see if they have done their work well. So respect them, and then they will be happy as they serve God. Do not say bad things against them, because that will never help you.
18 Pray to God for us. We are sure in our minds that we have done nothing wrong. We always want to do only what is right. 19 The most important thing is this: Pray that I may come back to you soon.
20 I pray that God will help you. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. He caused our Lord Jesus Christ to become alive again after death. God forgives us because of the blood of Jesus' death on the cross. That is God's new agreement with his people that will be true for ever. Jesus is our great shepherd. He takes care of us like his sheep. 21 I pray that God will give you every good thing that you need to serve him. Then you can do everything that he wants. I pray that God will help us to serve him in a way that will make him happy. He will do that because we belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus is very great, and we should praise him always and for ever! Amen. This is true.
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