Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
139 Lord, You have (A)searched me and known me.
2 You (B)know [a]when I sit down and [b]when I get up;
You (C)understand my thought from far away.
3 You [c](D)scrutinize my [d]path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 [e]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, Lord, You (E)know it all.
5 You have (F)encircled me behind and in front,
And (G)placed Your hand upon me.
6 Such (H)knowledge is (I)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.
13 For You (A)created my innermost parts;
You (B)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, because [a]I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
(C)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [b](D)frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully formed in the (E)depths of the earth;
16 Your (F)eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in (G)Your book were written
All the (H)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
10 (A)Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me
As a (B)man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not (C)lent, nor have people lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said, “I will certainly (D)set you free for purposes of good;
I will certainly make the (E)enemy plead with you
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.
12 “Can anyone smash iron,
(F)Iron from the north, or bronze?
13 I will give your (G)wealth and your treasures
As plunder (H)without cost,
For all your sins
And within all your borders.
14 Then I will make your enemies bring your possessions
Into a (I)land that you do not know;
For a (J)fire has been kindled in My anger,
And it will burn upon you.”
Jeremiah’s Prayer and God’s Answer
15 (K)You know, Lord;
Remember me, take notice of me,
And (L)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that (M)for Your sake I endure reproach.
16 Your words were found and I (N)ate them,
And Your (O)words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart;
For I have been (P)called by Your name,
Lord God of armies.
17 I (Q)did not sit in a circle of revelers and celebrate.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat (R)alone,
For You (S)filled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain been endless
And my (T)wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me (U)like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?
19 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“(V)If you return, then I will restore you—
(W)You will stand before Me;
And (X)if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become [a]My spokesman.
They, for their part, may turn to you,
But as for you, you are not to turn to them.
20 Then I will (Y)make you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
And though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For (Z)I am with you to save you
And rescue you,” declares the Lord.
21 “So I will (AA)rescue you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will (AB)redeem you from the [b]grasp of the violent.”
25 But I thought it necessary to send to you (A)Epaphroditus, my brother and (B)fellow worker and (C)fellow soldier, who is also your [a](D)messenger and (E)minister to my need, 26 because he was longing [b]for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 29 (F)Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and (G)hold people like him in high regard, 30 because he came close to death [c](H)for the work of Christ, risking his life to (I)compensate [d]for your absence in your service to me.
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