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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 113

The Egyptian Hallel—Pss 113–118^[a]

Psalm 113^[b]

Praise of the Lord for His Care of the Lowly

¹Alleluia.

Praise, you servants of the Lord,^[c]
    praise the name of the Lord.
²^[d]Blessed be the name of the Lord
    now and forevermore.
³From the rising of the sun to its setting
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.
⁴^[e]High is the Lord over all the nations,
    and supreme over the heavens is his glory.
⁵Who is like the Lord, our God,
    the one who is enthroned on high
and who stoops down to look
⁶    on the heavens and the earth?
⁷^[f]He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the rubbish heap,
⁸seating them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
⁹He settles the barren woman^[g] in a home
    and makes her the joyful mother of children.
Alleluia.

Footnotes

Psalm 113:1 The Hallel (“praise”) psalms are found in three separate collections: the “Egyptian Hallel,” also known as the “Little Hallel” (Pss 113–118), the “Great Hallel” (Pss 120–136), and the “Concluding Hallel” (Pss 146–150). The Egyptian Hallel and the Great Hallel (most of which are pilgrimage psalms: Pss 120–134) were sung during the annual feasts (see Lev 23; Num 10:10). The Egyptian Hallel received a special place in the Passover liturgy; by custom Pss 113–114 were recited or sung before the festive meal and Pss 115–118 after it (see Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). These were probably the last psalms Jesus sang before his Passion. Only the second (Ps 114) speaks directly of the Exodus, but the themes of the others make it an appropriate series to mark the salvation that began in Egypt and would spread to the nations. The concluding Hallel psalms (Pss 146–150) were incorporated into the daily prayers in the synagogue after the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.
Psalm 113:1 This psalm presents a surprising contrast in the praises of Israel: the acclamation of the glory of the Almighty One attains its summit, and certitude becomes even stronger that God is near to the lowly. His tenderness reaches those whom the powerful of the earth regard as nothing. The God of justice reverses established situations, as both the canticle of Hannah (see 1 Sam 2:4-8) and the Magnificat of Mary (see Lk 1:46-55) attest with equal intensity. In celebrating the salvation of the humiliated poor man and the abandoned woman, Israel keeps alive the hope of a wondrous renewal in the Messianic age (see Pss 76; 87; Isa 49:21; 54:1-8).
In praying this psalm, we are aware that the New Testament provides us with new motives for praising God the Father for the great condescension he manifests toward Zechariah, Mary, and those known as the poor of Yahweh. We can also chant this psalm in honor of the glorified Christ. Exalted by his Father above every earthly power and introduced by him into divine glory (Phil 2:9-11; Heb 2:7-9), Christ shows himself to be incomparable by uniting to his supreme transcendence an astonishing condescension. It was toward the poor and lowly that he stooped during his public ministry, eating and drinking with them (see Mk 2:16), offering them the kingdom of God (see Mt 5:3-12) with its mysteries (see Mk 4:11), and making them the princes of his new people (see Mk 3:13-19). It is on the poor and the weak in the eyes of the world that he continues to confer his spiritual riches and powers (see 1 Cor 1:26-28).
Psalm 113:1 Servants of the Lord: the Lord’s loyal people, together with the priests and the Levites, come together to worship the Lord. These are all those who know “the name of the Lord” (v. 3; see Ps 50:1; Zep 2:11; Mal 1:11). Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 113:2 The name of the Lord is to be proclaimed so that every generation may remember what he has done and how he has revealed himself (see Ex 3:16). This praise is to extend in time (forevermore) and in space (from the rising of the sun to its setting, i.e., from the east to the west; see Mal 1:11).
Psalm 113:4 The psalmist calls attention to the contrast: the exalted rule of the Lord and his accommodation to the needs of his people. Over all the nations: and by implication over all their gods (see Pss 95:3; 96:4f; 97:9). Over the heavens: i.e., above all creation.
Psalm 113:7 The Lord does not ally himself with the high and mighty but takes care of the poor and needy by transforming them from outcasts of society (the dust, see Isa 47:1, or rubbish heap, see Lam 4:5) into those who have a position of prominence (with the princes of his people, v. 8; see 1 Sam 2:8; Job 36:7). The afflicted man will be accorded recognition, and the oppressed woman will be given honor.
Psalm 113:9 Barren woman: a barren wife was considered cursed by God and a social outcast, a disappointment to her husband, to other women, and especially to herself (see Gen 16:2; 20:18; 1 Sam 1:6; 2:5; Lk 1:25). The Lord blesses her with children (see Ps 115:14; Isa 48:19; 54:1-3). Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; it probably was once the first line of Ps 114.

Ezekiel 22:17-31

¹⁷Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross in my eyes; all of them are nothing more than copper and tin, iron and lead, that have become dross in the midst of a furnace.

¹⁹Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because all of you have become dross, I will gather you together inside Jerusalem. ²⁰As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin and smelts it in a blazing furnace, so I will gather you in my furious wrath and cause you to be melted down. ²¹When I have assembled you, I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted down within the city. ²²As silver is smelted in a furnace, so shall you be melted down within the city, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured forth my wrath upon you.

²³This word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴Son of man, say to the land: You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained upon in the day of my anger. ²⁵Your princes have been like a roaring lion tearing apart its prey. They have devoured people, absconded with their wealth and precious treasures, and caused many women within it to become widows.

²⁶Your priests have violated my law and made profane my holy things. They have failed to make any distinction between the sacred and the profane, nor have they taught the difference between the clean and the unclean. They have completely ignored my Sabbaths, and I have been profaned in their midst. ²⁷Your priests are like wolves tearing apart their prey, shedding blood, and killing people in the pursuit of dishonest gain. ²⁸Your prophets whitewash their deeds by revealing false visions and offering lying prophecies asserting that the Lord God has spoken when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹Meanwhile the people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and forced resident aliens to submit to injustice.

³⁰I searched among my people for someone who could build a barricade and stand before me in the breach to keep me from destroying the land, but I found no one. ³¹Therefore, I poured forth my fury upon them and consumed them with my fiery wrath. I have brought down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.

Romans 8:31-39

³¹Who Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ? What then can we say in response to all this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us. How then can he fail also to give us everything else along with him?

³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who acquits. ³⁴Who will condemn? Christ Jesus, who died, or rather rose again, who is at God’s right hand and intercedes for us?^[a] ³⁵Who then can separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? ³⁶As it is written,

“For your sake we are being slain all day long;
we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, throughout all these things we are conquerors because of him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth,^[b] nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Egyptian Hallel—Pss 113–118[a]

Psalm 113[b]

Praise of the Lord for His Care of the Lowly

Footnotes

Footnotes

The Egyptian Hallel—Pss 113–118^[a]

Psalm 113^[b]