Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Yet God Is My King
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 Why, O God? Have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your steps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own signs (L)for signs.
5 Each seems like one who lifts up
[c]An (M)axe against the undergrowth of trees.
6 And now its (N)carved work altogether
They smash with hatchet and [d]hammers.
7 They have (O)set Your sanctuary on fire;
By bringing it to the ground, they have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [e]completely [f]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)reproach?
Will the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my King from of old,
Who works deeds of [g]salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [h]in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of [i](AC)Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the [j]creatures (AD)of the desert.
15 [k]You (AE)split open spring and river;
[l]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[m]You have (AG)established the [n]light and the sun.
17 [o]You have (AH)caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;
[p]You have formed (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has (AJ)reproached,
And a (AK)wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Look to the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
16 O Yahweh, they visited You (A)in distress;
They [a]could only whisper a prayer;
Your chastening was upon them.
17 (B)As the [b]woman with child draws near to the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her pangs of labor,
Thus were we before You, O Yahweh.
18 We were [c]with child, we writhed in labor;
We (C)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
And the (D)inhabitants of the world [d]were not born.
19 Your (E)dead will live;
[e]Their corpses will rise.
You who dwell in the dust, (F)awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the [f]dawn,
And the earth will [g]give birth to the [h]departed spirits.
20 Come, my people, (G)enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little [i](H)while
Until (I)indignation passes by.
21 For behold, Yahweh is about to (J)come out from His place
To (K)visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth;
And the earth will (L)reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover those of hers who were killed.
Yahweh Will Deliver Israel
A Kingdom Divided
14 (A)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. Now it happened that when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons (B)by (C)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 And others, testing Him, (D)were seeking from Him [a]a sign from heaven. 17 (E)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “[b]Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against [c]itself falls. 18 But if (F)Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by (G)Beelzebul. 19 And if I by (H)Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons by the (I)finger of God, then (J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When [d]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are [e]undisturbed. 22 But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 23 (K)He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.
24 “(L)When the unclean spirit goes out of [f]a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
27 Now it happened that while [g]Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “(M)Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are (N)those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
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