Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
40 So the Lord became angry with his people
and hated his own children.
41 He handed them over to other nations
and let their enemies rule over them.
42 Their enemies were cruel to them
and kept them under their power.
43 The Lord saved his people many times,
but they continued to turn against him.
So they became even more wicked.
44 But God saw their misery
when he heard their cry.
45 He remembered his agreement with them,
and he felt sorry for them because of his great love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by those who held them captive.
47 Lord our God, save us
and bring us back from other nations.
Then we will thank you
and will gladly praise you.
48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was and always will be.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
The Lord and the Idols
10 Family of Israel, listen to what the Lord says to you. 2 This is what he says:
“Don’t live like the people from other nations,
and don’t be afraid of special signs in the sky,
even though the other nations are afraid of them.
3 The customs of other people are worth nothing.
Their idols are just wood cut from the forest,
shaped by a worker with his chisel.
4 They decorate their idols with silver and gold.
With hammers and nails they fasten them down
so they won’t fall over.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows in melon fields;
they cannot talk.
Since they cannot walk,
they must be carried.
Do not be afraid of those idols,
because they can’t hurt you,
and they can’t help you either.”
6 Lord, there is no one like you.
You are great,
and your name is great and powerful.
7 Everyone should respect you, King of the nations;
you deserve respect.
Of all the wise people among the nations
and in all the kingdoms,
none of them is as wise as you.
8 Those wise people are stupid and foolish.
Their teachings come from worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz,
so the idols are made by craftsmen and goldsmiths.
They put blue and purple clothes on the idols.
All these things are made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the only living God, the King forever.
The earth shakes when he is angry,
and the nations cannot stand up to his anger.
11 “Tell them this message: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth; they will be destroyed and disappear from heaven and earth.’”
12 God made the earth by his power.
He used his wisdom to build the world
and his understanding to stretch out the skies.
13 When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar.
He makes clouds rise in the sky all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 People are so stupid and know so little.
Goldsmiths are made ashamed by their idols,
because those statues are only false gods.
They have no breath in them.
15 They are worth nothing; people make fun of them.
When they are judged, they will be destroyed.
16 But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like the idols.
He made everything,
and he chose Israel to be his special people.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
19 I am free and belong to no one. But I make myself a slave to all people to win as many as I can. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law. But to those who are ruled by the law I became like a person who is ruled by the law. I did this to win those who are ruled by the law. 21 To those who are without the law I became like a person who is without the law. I did this to win those people who are without the law. (But really, I am not without God’s law—I am ruled by Christ’s law.) 22 To those who are weak, I became weak so I could win the weak. I have become all things to all people so I could save some of them in any way possible. 23 I do all this because of the Good News and so I can share in its blessings.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.