Misericórdia

18 Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing

And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His *possession?

He does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in mercy.

A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;

According to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt

And cleanse me from my sin.

6 Remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithfulness,

For they have been *from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my wrongdoings;

Remember me according to Your faithfulness,

For Your goodness’ sake, Lord.

Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.

1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord.

2 Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the sound of my pleadings.

11 You, Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;

*Your mercy and Your truth will continually watch over me.

6 *Certainly goodness and *faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,

And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord*forever.

13 Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who *fear Him.

15 But *the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under *the Law but under grace? *Far from it!

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead *in our wrongdoings, made us alive together *with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast *about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

13 One who conceals his wrongdoings will not prosper,

But one who confesses and abandons them will find compassion.

7 Let the wicked abandon his way,

And the unrighteous person his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

God Is Gracious and Just

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

And therefore He *waits on high to have compassion on you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

How blessed are all those who *long for Him.

13 Now go and learn *what this means: ‘I desire*compassion, *rather than sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Forgiveness

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

14 For if you forgive other people for their *offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

31 "Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them,

For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

5 It goes well for a person who is gracious and lends;

He will *maintain his cause in judgment.

17 May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us;

And *confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, *confirm the work of our hands.

16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.

Dedicated Service

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

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

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

All Israel Invited to the Passover

1 Now Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to *celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. 2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month, 3 since they could not celebrate it at that time, because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers, nor had the people been gathered to Jerusalem. 4 So the *decision was right in the sight of the king and all the assembly. 5 So they established a decree to circulate a *proclamation throughout Israel from Beersheba to Dan, that they are to come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as was written. 6 The *couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, "Sons of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the *hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were untrue to the Lord God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, just as you see. 8 Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but*yield to the Lord and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. 9 For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will find compassion in the presence of those who led them captive, and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."

10 So the *couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed at them with scorn and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh, and 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.

Passover Reinstituted

13 Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. 14 They got up and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the brook Kidron. 15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month. And the priests and Levites were ashamed of themselves, and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. 16 They stood at their stations following their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were in charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the Lord. 18 For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, and Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good Lord pardon 19 everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary." 20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests were praising the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. 22 Then Hezekiah spoke *encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers.

23 Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a large number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the strangers who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. 27 Then the Levitical priests stood and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

The Defiled Land

1 God*says, "If a husband divorces his wife

And she leaves him

And becomes another man’s wife,

Will he return to her again?

Would that land not be completely defiled?

But you are a prostitute with many *lovers;

Yet you turn to Me," declares the Lord.

2 "Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see;

Where have you not been violated?

You have sat for them by the roads

Like an Arab in the desert,

And you have defiled a land

With your prostitution and your wickedness.

3 "Therefore the showers have been withheld,

And there has been no spring rain.

Yet you had a prostitute’s *forehead;

You refused 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,

Or keep His anger to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken

And have done evil things,

And you have *had your own way."

Faithless Israel

6 Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. 7 Yet I *thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the *adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. 9 And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed *adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the Lord.

God Invites Repentance

11 And the Lord said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself to be 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 at you in anger.

For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;

‘I will not be angry forever.

13 ‘Only *acknowledge your wrongdoing,

That you have revolted against the Lord your God,

And have scattered your *favors to the strangers under every leafy tree,

And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.

14 ‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the Lord;

‘For I am a master to you,

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 knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land," declares the Lord, "they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. 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 your fathers as an inheritance.

19 "Then I said,

‘How I would set you among *My sons

And give you a pleasant land,

The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’

And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father,

And not turn away from following Me.’

20 "However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover,

So you have dealt treacherously with Me,

House of Israel," declares the Lord.

21 A voice is heard on the bare heights,

The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel.

Because they have perverted their way,

They have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 "Return, you faithless sons,

I will heal your faithlessness."

"Behold, we come to You;

For You are the Lord our God.

23 "Certainly the hills are a deception,

*Commotion on the mountains.

Certainly in the Lord our God

Is the salvation of Israel.

24 "But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation 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."