Psalm 55:16–23

¹⁶But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old,
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
²⁰My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
²¹His speech was smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
²²Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
²³But you, O God, will cast them down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.

Old Testament Reading Isaiah 9:8—10:11

⁸The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
⁹and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰“The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
¹²The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹³The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹⁸For wickedness burns like a fire;
it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are like fuel for the fire;
no one spares another.
²⁰They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own arm,
²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
¹Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
²to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the ruin that will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.

⁵Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
⁶Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷But he does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
⁸for he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

New Testament Reading 1 Peter 5

¹So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: ²shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ⁵Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ⁸Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. ¹³She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. ¹⁴Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.