Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the Temple.[b] Of David.
I
2 I praise you, Lord, for you raised me up
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I cried out to you for help and you healed[c] me.
4 Lord, you brought my soul up from Sheol;
you let me live, from going down to the pit.[d](A)
II
5 Sing praise to the Lord, you faithful;
give thanks to his holy memory.
6 For his anger lasts but a moment;
his favor a lifetime.
At dusk weeping comes for the night;
but at dawn there is rejoicing.
III
7 Complacent,[e] I once said,
“I shall never be shaken.”
8 Lord, you showed me favor,
established for me mountains of virtue.
But when you hid your face
I was struck with terror.(B)
9 To you, Lord, I cried out;
with the Lord I pleaded for mercy:
10 [f]“What gain is there from my lifeblood,
from my going down to the grave?
Does dust give you thanks
or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O Lord, have mercy on me;
Lord, be my helper.”
IV
12 You changed my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness.(C)
13 So that my glory may praise you
and not be silent.
O Lord, my God,
forever will I give you thanks.
Chapter 2
The Lord’s Wrath and Zion’s Ruin[a]
1 How the Lord in his wrath
has abhorred daughter Zion,
Casting down from heaven to earth
the glory of Israel,[b]
Not remembering his footstool
on the day of his wrath!
2 The Lord has devoured without pity
all of Jacob’s dwellings;
In his fury he has razed
daughter Judah’s defenses,
Has brought to the ground in dishonor
a kingdom and its princes.
3 In blazing wrath, he cut down entirely
the horn[c] of Israel;
He withdrew the support of his right hand
when the enemy approached;
He burned against Jacob like a blazing fire
that consumes everything in its path.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy;
the arrow in his right hand
Like a foe, he killed
all those held precious;
On the tent of daughter Zion
he poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become the enemy,
he has devoured Israel:
Devoured all its strongholds,
destroyed its defenses,
Multiplied moaning and groaning
throughout daughter Judah.
6 He laid waste his booth like a garden,
destroyed his shrine;[d]
The Lord has blotted out in Zion
feast day and sabbath,
Has scorned in fierce wrath
king and priest.(A)
7 The Lord has rejected his altar,
spurned his sanctuary;
He has handed over to the enemy
the walls of its strongholds.
They shout in the house of the Lord
as on a feast day.(B)
8 The Lord was bent on destroying
the wall of daughter Zion:
He stretched out the measuring line;[e]
did not hesitate to devour,
Brought grief on rampart and wall
till both succumbed.(C)
9 Her gates sank into the ground;
he smashed her bars to bits.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
instruction is wanting,
Even her prophets do not obtain
any vision from the Lord.(D)
10 The elders of daughter Zion
sit silently on the ground;
They cast dust[f] on their heads
and dress in sackcloth;
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.(E)
11 My eyes are spent with tears,
my stomach churns;[g]
My bile is poured out on the ground
at the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
As children and infants collapse
in the streets of the town.(F)
12 They cry out to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
As they faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
in their mothers’ arms.
III. The Collection for Jerusalem[a]
Chapter 8
Generosity in Giving. 1 [b]We want you to know, brothers,[c] of the grace of God[d] that has been given to the churches of Macedonia,(A) 2 [e]for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 [f]For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, 4 they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones,(B) 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us[g] through the will of God, 6 so that we urged Titus[h] that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also.(C) 7 [i]Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you,(D) may you excel in this gracious act also.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.