Misericórdia

18 Who is a God like You,

who pardons iniquity

and passes over the transgression

of the remnant of His inheritance —

who does not retain His anger forever,

because He delights in loving devotion?*

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me,* O God,

according to Your loving devotion;

according to Your great compassion,

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me clean of my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and loving devotion,

for they are from age to age.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth,

nor my rebellious acts;

remember me according to Your loving devotion,

because of Your goodness, O LORD.

Out of the Depths

1 A song of ascents.

Out of the depths

I cry to You, O LORD!

2 O Lord, hear my voice;

let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy.

11 O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me;

Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me.

6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.*

13 As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!

The Wages of Sin

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!

4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

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

13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper,

but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

7 Let the wicked man forsake his way

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD,

that He may have compassion,

and to our God,

for He will freely pardon.

God Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

therefore He rises to show you compassion,

for the LORD is a just God.

Blessed are all who wait for Him.

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’*Hosea 6:6 For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.*"

The Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?"

22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!*

14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

31 But in Your great compassion,

You did not put an end to them;

nor did You forsake them,

for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

5 It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely,

whose affairs are guided by justice.

17 May the favor* of the Lord our God rest upon us;

establish for us the work of our hands—

yes, establish the work of our hands!

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

Living Sacrifices

1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.*

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only*Or only begotten or unique; also in verse 18 Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,

Hezekiah Proclaims a Passover

1 Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 For the king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem had decided to keep the Passover in the second month,* 3 since they had been unable to keep it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.

4 This plan pleased the king and the whole assembly. 5 So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem. For they had not observed it in great numbers as prescribed.

6 At the command of the king, the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read:

"Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see.

8 Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."

10 And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 Moreover, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD.

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

13 In the second month, a very great assembly gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread.* 14 They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley. 15 And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.

16 They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splattered the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.

18 A large number of the people— many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun— had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone 19 who sets his heart on seeking God — the LORD, the God of his fathers — even if he is not cleansed according to the purification rules of the sanctuary."

20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and priests praised the LORD day after day, accompanied by loud instruments of praise to the LORD.* 22 And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

23 The whole assembly agreed to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly, and a great number of priests consecrated themselves.

25 Then the whole assembly of Judah rejoiced along with the priests and Levites and the whole assembly that had come from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah. 26 So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel.

27 Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.

The Wages of the Harlot

1 "If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him to marry another,

can he ever return to her?

Would not such a land be completely defiled?

But you have played the harlot with many lovers —

and you would return to Me?"

declares the LORD.

2 "Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see.

Is there any place where you have not been violated?

You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers,

like a nomad in the desert.

You have defiled the land

with your prostitution and wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,

and no spring rains have fallen.

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;

you refuse to be ashamed.

4 Have you not just called to Me,

‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.

5 Will He be angry forever?

Will He be indignant to the end?’

This you have spoken,

but you keep doing all the evil you can."

Judah Follows Israel’s Example

6 Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there. 7 I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.

8 She saw* that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well. 9 Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.

A Call to Repentance

11 And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north:

‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD.

‘I will no longer look on you with anger,

for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD.

‘I will not be angry forever.

13 Only acknowledge your guilt,

that you have rebelled against the LORD your God.

You have scattered your favors to foreign gods

under every green tree

and have not obeyed My voice,’"

declares the LORD.

14 "Return, O faithless children," declares the LORD, "for I am your master, and I will take you — one from a city and two from a family — and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

16 "In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.

17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.

19 Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons

and give you a desirable land,

the most beautiful inheritance

of all the nations!’

I thought you would call Me ‘Father’

and never turn away from following Me.

20 But as a woman may betray her husband,

so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel,"

declares the LORD.

21 A voice is heard on the barren heights,

the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,

because they have perverted their ways

and forgotten the LORD their God.

22 "Return, O faithless children,

and I will heal your faithlessness."

"Here we are. We come to You,

for You are the LORD our God.

23 Surely deception comes from the hills,

and commotion from the mountains.

Surely the salvation of Israel

is in the LORD our God.

24 From our youth, that shameful god

has consumed what our fathers have worked for—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

25 Let us lie down in our shame;

let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned against the LORD our God,

both we and our fathers;

from our youth even to this day

we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."