Psalm 80
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!(B)
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.(C)
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?(D)
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.(E)
6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.(F)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(G)
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.(H)
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(I)
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.(J)
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,(K)
15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b]
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(L)
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.(M)
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.(N)
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Psalm 77
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 77
God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled
To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.(A)
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.(B)
3 I think of God, and I moan;
I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah(C)
4 You keep my eyelids from closing;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old
and remember the years of long ago.(D)
6 I commune[a] with my heart in the night;
I meditate and search my spirit:[b](E)
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever
and never again be favorable?(F)
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
Are his promises at an end for all time?(G)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah(H)
10 And I say, “It is my grief
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”(I)
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember your wonders of old.(J)
12 I will meditate on all your work
and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?(K)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah(L)
16 When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.(M)
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.(N)
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.(O)
19 Your way was through the sea,
your path through the mighty waters,
yet your footprints were unseen.(P)
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(Q)
Joel 1:1-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel:(A)
Lament over the Ruin of the Country
2 Hear this, O elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(B)
3 Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.(C)
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten;
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.(D)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep,
and wail, all you wine drinkers,
over the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and innumerable;
its teeth are lions’ teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.(E)
7 It has laid waste my vines
and splintered my fig trees;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.(F)
8 Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.(G)
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of the Lord.(H)
10 The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns,
for the grain is destroyed,
the wine dries up,
the oil fails.(I)
11 Be dismayed, you farmers;
wail, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley,
for the crops of the field are ruined.(J)
12 The vine withers;
the fig tree droops.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple—
all the trees of the field are dried up;
surely, joy withers away
among the people.(K)
A Call to Repentance and Prayer
13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests;
wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God!
Grain offering and drink offering
are withheld from the house of your God.(L)
Revelation 18:15-24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
15 The merchants of these wares, who grew wealthy from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,(A)
16 “Alas, alas, the great city,
clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!(B)
17 For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”
And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off(C) 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”(D)
19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, the great city,
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in one hour she has been laid waste.”(E)
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her condemnation of you.(F)
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“With such violence Babylon the great city
will be thrown down
and will be found no more;(G)
22 and the sound of harpists and entertainers and of flutists and trumpeters
will be heard in you no more,
and an artisan of any trade
will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the millstone
will be heard in you no more,(H)
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.(I)
24 And in you[a] was found the blood of prophets and of saints
and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”(J)
Footnotes
- 18.24 Gk her
Luke 14:12-24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.(A) 14 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Parable of the Great Dinner
15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”(B) 16 Then Jesus[a] said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’(C) 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ 20 Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’(D) 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’(E) 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you,[b] none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’ ”(F)
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