Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

12 At that time you will say:
“I praise you, Lord!
    You were angry with me,
but you are not angry with me now!
    You have comforted me.
² God is the one who saves me;
    I will trust him and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord gives me strength and makes me sing.
    He has saved me.”
³ You will receive your salvation with joy
    as you would draw water from a well.
⁴ At that time you will say,
“Praise the Lord and worship him.
    Tell everyone what he has done
    and how great he is.
⁵ Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done great things.
    Let all the world know what he has done.
⁶ Shout and sing for joy, you people of Jerusalem,
    because the Holy One of Israel does great things before your eyes.”

59 Surely the Lord’s power is enough to save you.
    He can hear you when you ask him for help.
² It is your evil that has separated
    you from your God.
Your sins cause him to turn away from you,
    so he does not hear you.
³ With your hands you have killed others,
    and with your fingers you have done wrong.
With your lips you have lied,
    and with your tongue you say evil things.
⁴ People take each other to court unfairly,
    and no one tells the truth in arguing his case.
They accuse each other falsely and tell lies.
    They cause trouble and create more evil.
⁵ They hatch evil like eggs from poisonous snakes.
    If you eat one of those eggs, you will die,
    and if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.
People tell lies as they would spin a spider’s web.
⁶ The webs they make cannot be used for clothes;
    you can’t cover yourself with those webs.
The things they do are evil,
    and they use their hands to hurt others.
⁷ They eagerly run to do evil,
    and they are always ready to kill innocent people.
They think evil thoughts.
    Everywhere they go they cause ruin and destruction.
⁸ They don’t know how to live in peace,
    and there is no fairness in their lives.
They are dishonest.
    Anyone who lives as they live will never have peace.

⁹ Fairness has gone far away;
    goodness is nowhere to be found.
We wait for the light, but there is only darkness now.
    We hope for a bright light, but all we have is darkness.
¹⁰ We are like the blind feeling our way along a wall.
    We feel our way as if we had no eyes.
In the brightness of day we trip as if it were night.
    We are like dead men among the strong.
¹¹ All of us growl like the bears.
    We call out sadly like the doves.
We look for justice, but there isn’t any.
    We want to be saved, but salvation is far away.