Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
63 (0) A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Y’hudah:
2 (1) O God, you are my God;
I will seek you eagerly.
My heart thirsts for you,
my body longs for you
in a land parched and exhausted,
where no water can be found.
3 (2) I used to contemplate you in the sanctuary,
seeing your power and glory;
4 (3) for your grace is better than life.
My lips will worship you.
5 (4) Yes, I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
6 (5) I am as satisfied as with rich food;
my mouth praises you with joy on my lips
7 (6) when I remember you on my bed
and meditate on you in the night watches.
8 (7) For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice;
9 (8) my heart clings to you;
your right hand supports me.
10 (9) But those who seek to destroy my life —
may they go to the lowest parts of the earth.
11 (10) May they be given over to the power of the sword;
may they become prey for jackals.
12 (11) But the king will rejoice in God.
Everyone who swears by him will exult,
for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
1 The word of Adonai that came to Yo’el the son of P’tu’el:
2 “Hear this, you leaders!
Listen, all who live in the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days,
or in your ancestors’ days?
3 Tell your children about it,
and have them tell it to theirs,
and have them tell the next generation.
4 What the cutter-worms left, the locusts ate;
what the locusts left, the grasshoppers ate;
what the grasshoppers left, the shearer-worms ate.
5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!
wail, all you who drink wine,
because the juice of the grape
will be withheld from your mouth.
6 For a mighty and numberless nation
has invaded my land.
His teeth are lion’s teeth;
his fangs are those of a lioness.
7 He has reduced my vines to waste,
my fig trees to splinters —
he plucked them bare, stripped their bark
and left their branches white.”
8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth
for the husband of her youth!
9 Grain offering and drink offering are cut off
from the house of Adonai.
The cohanim are mourning,
those who are serving Adonai.
10 The fields are ruined, the ground is grieving;
for the grain is ruined, the new wine dried up,
and the olive oil is wretched.
11 Despair, you farmers; lament, vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley —
the harvest from the fields is lost.
12 The vines have withered, the fig trees wilted,
also the pomegranate, date-palm and apple tree —
all the trees in the fields have withered,
and the people’s joy has withered away.
13 Cohanim, put on sackcloth, and weep!
Wail, you who serve at the altar!
Come, lie in sackcloth all night long,
you who serve my God!
For the grain offering and drink offering are withheld
from the house of your God.
14 Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly,
gather the leaders
and all who live in the land
to the house of Adonai your God,
and cry out to Adonai,
6 But now Timothy has come to us from you, bringing good news about your trust and love, and telling us that you remember us well and are always longing to see us, just as we long to see you. 7 Because of this, brothers, in spite of all our trouble and distress, we were comforted over you — because of your trust; 8 so that now we are alive; since you continue to stand fast, united with the Lord.
9 Indeed, how can we thank God enough for you or express to our God all the joy we feel because of you? 10 Night and day we pray as hard as we can that we will be able to see you face to face and supply whatever shortcomings there may be in your trust. 11 May God our Father and our Lord Yeshua direct our way to you.
12 And as for you, may the Lord make you increase and overflow in love toward each other, indeed, toward everyone, just as we do toward you; 13 so that he may give you the inner strength to be blameless, by reason of your holiness, when you stand before God our Father at the coming of our Lord Yeshua with all his angels.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.