Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 72
The Rule of the Righteous King
Heading
By Solomon.
The King’s Justice
1 God, give your authority to judge to the King.
Give your righteousness to the Son of the King.
2 He will judge your people with righteousness.
He will judge your afflicted ones with justice.
3 The mountains will deliver peace to the people.
The hills will produce righteousness.
4 He will obtain justice for the afflicted among the people.
He will save the children of the poor,
but he will crush the oppressor.
The King’s Eternal Reign
5 They will fear you[a] as long as the sun remains,
and as long as the moon endures, through all generations.
6 He will come down like rain on a mown field,
like showers, like a downpour on the earth.
7 In his days the righteous will flourish,
and peace will be plentiful till the moon is no more.
The King’s Universal Reign
8 He will rule[b] from sea to sea
and from the River[c] to the ends of the earth.
9 Those who dwell in the desert will bow before him,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the sea coasts will bring tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer him gifts.
11 All kings will bow down to him.
All nations will serve him.
The Blessings of His Rule
12 He will certainly deliver the poor person who cries out,
as well as the afflicted, and the one who has no helper.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the poor.
He will save the lives of the poor.
14 From oppression and violence he will redeem their lives,
because their blood is precious in his sight.
A Prayer for His Blessings
15 May the King live![d]
May gold from Sheba be offered to him.
May people always pray for him.
May they bless him all day long.
16 Let there be an abundance of grain in the land.
Let it wave on the top of the mountains.
Let its fruit trees be like the cedars of Lebanon.[e]
Let people from the city flourish like the grass of the land.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name flourish as long as the sun.
They will be blessed through him.
All nations will call him blessed.
Closing Doxology
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever.
May the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
from you, will go out the one who will be the ruler for me in Israel.
His goings forth[a] are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.[b]
3 Therefore the Lord[c] will give them up,
until the time when the woman who is in labor bears a child.[d]
Then the remaining survivors from his brothers will return to the people of Israel.
4 He will stand and shepherd with the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
They will dwell securely, for at that time he will be great to the ends of the earth.
5 This one will be their peace.
When Assyria invades our land
and tramples on our citadels,
we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword
and the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade.[e]
He will save us from Assyria
when it invades our land
and tramples on our territory.
The Remnant Among the Nations
7 There will be a surviving remnant of Jacob in the midst of many peoples,
like dew from the Lord,
like spring showers on the grass,
which do not wait around for a man,
and do not delay for human beings.[f]
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among animals of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep.
As he passes through, he crushes and tears them.
There is no one who can save them from him.
9 Your hand will be high above your enemies.
All your enemies will be cut off.
Jesus Warns Jerusalem
31 In that very hour, some Pharisees came to him and said, “Leave, and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I am going to drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it cannot be that a prophet would be killed outside Jerusalem!’
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you will say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[a]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.