Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify^(A) against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.^(B)
8 I bring no charges^(C) against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings,^(D) which are ever before me.
⁹ I have no need of a bull^(E) from your stall
    or of goats^(F) from your pens,^(G)
10 for every animal of the forest^(H) is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.^(I)
11 I know every bird^(J) in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields^(K) are mine.
¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world^(L) is mine, and all that is in it.^(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings^(N) to God,
    fulfill your vows^(O) to the Most High,^(P)
15 and call^(Q) on me in the day of trouble;^(R)
    I will deliver^(S) you, and you will honor^(T) me.”

⁷ In the days of her affliction and wandering
    Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
    that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
    there was no one to help her.^(A)
Her enemies looked at her
    and laughed^(B) at her destruction.

⁸ Jerusalem has sinned^(C) greatly
    and so has become unclean.^(D)
All who honored her despise her,
    for they have all seen her naked;^(E)
she herself groans^(F)
    and turns away.

⁹ Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
    she did not consider her future.^(G)
Her fall^(H) was astounding;
    there was none to comfort^(I) her.
“Look, Lord, on my affliction,^(J)
    for the enemy has triumphed.”

¹⁰ The enemy laid hands
    on all her treasures;^(K)
she saw pagan nations
    enter her sanctuary^(L)—
those you had forbidden^(M)
    to enter your assembly.

¹¹ All her people groan^(N)
    as they search for bread;^(O)
they barter their treasures for food
    to keep themselves alive.
“Look, Lord, and consider,
    for I am despised.”