Put Away from Us, the Evil Thoughts in Our Hearts--May 12, 2016

Put away from us, O God, and trample under foot,

our lust for tribute and our delight in war,

our longing for might and power—

the evil thoughts in our hearts;

replace them by your Spirit.

Then all bitterness and wrath,

anger and wrangling and slander,

together with all malice, will disappear.

We will be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113

Zech. 4:1-14

Eph. 4:17-32

Matt. 9:1-8

       

Selected Verses

Ps. 68:30b

Trample under foot those who lust after tribute;
          scatter the peoples who delight in war. 

Zech. 4:6

[The angel] said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.  …”

Eph. 4:31-32

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Matt. 9:4

But Jesus, perceiving [the scribes’] thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  …”