Misericórdia

God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

18 *Who is a God like you, *pardoning iniquity

and passing over transgression

*for the remnant of his inheritance?

*He does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in steadfast love.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

1 *Have mercy on me,* O God,

according to your steadfast love;

according to your *abundant mercy

*blot out my transgressions.

2 *Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and *cleanse me from my sin!

6 Remember your *mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,

*for they have been from of old.

7 Remember not *the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your *steadfast love remember me,

for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

My Soul Waits for the Lord

1 Out of *the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

2 O Lord, hear my voice!

*Let your ears be attentive

to *the voice of my pleas for mercy!

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain

your mercy from me;

your *steadfast love and your faithfulness will

ever preserve me!

6 Surely* goodness and mercy* shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall *dwell* in the house of the Lord

*forever.*

13 As *a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion *to those who fear him.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for *many.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? *Are we to sin *because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

4 But* God, being *rich in mercy, *because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even *when we were dead in our trespasses, *made us alive together with Christ—*by grace you have been saved—

9 But he said to me, *"My grace is sufficient for you, for *my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that *the power of Christ may rest upon me.

13 Whoever *conceals his transgressions will not prosper,

but he who *confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

7 let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the Lord*waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he *exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

*blessed are all those who wait for him.

13 Go and learn *what this means: *‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For *I came not to call the righteous, *but sinners."

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often *will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? *As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.*

14 *For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

31 Nevertheless, *in your great mercies *you did not make an end of them or forsake them, *for you are a gracious and merciful God.

5 It is well with the man who *deals generously and lends;

who conducts his affairs with justice.

17 Let the *favor* of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish *the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!

16 *Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

A Living Sacrifice

1 *I appeal to you therefore, brothers,* by the mercies of God, *to present your bodies *as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.*

For God So Loved the World

16 "For *God so loved *the world,**that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not *perish but have eternal life.

29 For *it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also *suffer for his sake,

Passover Celebrated

1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover *in the second month— 3 for they could not keep it *at that time *because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. 5 So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, *from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. 6 *So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, *return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of *the kings of Assyria. 7 *Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8 *Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, *that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9 For *if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children *will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For *the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, *if you return to him."

10 *So the couriers went from city to city through the country of *Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but *they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. 11 However, *some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded *by the word of the Lord.

13 And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread *in the second month, a very great assembly. 14 They set to work and removed *the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away *and threw into the brook Kidron. 15 *And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. *And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, *so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. 16 *They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses *the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. 18 For a majority of the people, *many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise *than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon everyone 19 *who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness."*20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept *the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might* to the Lord. 22 And Hezekiah spoke *encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing *peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

23 Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast *for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah *gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests *consecrated themselves in great numbers. 25 The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, *and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for *since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then *the priests and the Levites arose and *blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to *his holy habitation in heaven.

1 *"If* a man divorces his wife

and she goes from him

and becomes another man’s wife,

will he return to her?

*Would not that land be greatly polluted?

*You have played the whore with many lovers;

and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.

2 Lift up your eyes to *the bare heights, and see!

Where have you not been ravished?

*By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers

like an Arab in the wilderness.

*You have polluted the land

with your vile whoredom.

3 *Therefore the showers have been withheld,

and the spring rain has not come;

yet you have *the forehead of a whore;

you refuse to be ashamed.

4 Have you not just now *called to me,

‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—

5 *will he be angry forever,

will he be indignant to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken,

but you have done all the evil that you could."

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

6 The Lord said to me in the days of *King Josiah: "Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, *how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there *played the whore? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous *sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, *I had sent her away with *a decree of divorce. *Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went *and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with *stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me *with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord."

11 And the Lord said to me, *"Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward *the north, and say,

*"‘Return, faithless Israel,

declares the Lord.

I will not look on you in anger,

for *I am merciful,

declares the Lord;

*I will not be angry forever.

13 *Only acknowledge your guilt,

that you rebelled against the Lord your God

and scattered your favors among foreigners under *every green tree,

and that you have not obeyed my voice,

declares the Lord.

14 *Return, O faithless children,

declares the Lord;

*for I am your master;

I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

and I will bring you to Zion.

15 "‘And *I will give you shepherds after my own heart, *who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the Lord." It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, *and all nations shall gather to it, *to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 *In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land *of the north to *the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.

19 "‘I said,

How I would set you among my sons,

and give you a pleasant land,

a heritage most beautiful of all nations.

And I thought you would *call me, My Father,

and would not turn from following me.

20 *Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,

so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.’"

21 A voice on the *bare heights is heard,

*the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons

because they have perverted their way;

they have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 *"Return, O faithless sons;

*I will heal your faithlessness."

"Behold, we come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23 Truly *the hills are a delusion,

the orgies* on the mountains.

*Truly in the Lord our God

is the salvation of Israel.

24 "But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 *Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For *we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God."