Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And ^(A)fulfill all your ^[b]purpose.
⁵ We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His ^[c]anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in ^(B)horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

⁹ Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.

^(A)“A voice was heard in ^(B)Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter ^(C)weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because ^(D)they are no more.”

“Refrain your voice from ^(E)weeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ There is ^(F)hope in your future, says the Lord,
That your children shall come back to their own border.

¹⁸ “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
‘You have ^(G)chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
^(H)Restore me, and I will return,
For You are the Lord my God.
¹⁹ Surely, ^(I)after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was ^(J)ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
²⁰ Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
^(K)Therefore My ^[a]heart yearns for him;
^(L)I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

²¹ “Set up signposts,
Make landmarks;
^(M)Set your heart toward the highway,
The way in which you went.
^[b]Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
Turn back to these your cities.
²² How long will you ^(N)gad about,
O you ^(O)backsliding daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman shall encompass a man.”