Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
3 (0) A psalm of David, when he fled from Avshalom his son:
2 (1) Adonai, how many enemies I have!
How countless are those attacking me;
3 (2) how countless those who say of me,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” (Selah)
4 (3) But you, Adonai, are a shield for me;
you are my glory, you lift my head high.
5 (4) With my voice I call out to Adonai,
and he answers me from his holy hill. (Selah)
6 (5) I lie down and sleep, then wake up again,
because Adonai sustains me.
7 (6) I am not afraid of the tens of thousands
set against me on every side.
8 (7) Rise up, Adonai!
Save me, my God!
For you slap all my enemies in the face,
you smash the teeth of the wicked.
9 (8) Victory comes from Adonai;
may your blessing rest on your people. (Selah)
12 “‘Woe to him who builds a city with blood
and founds a town on injustice,
13 so that people toil for what will be burned up,
and nations exhaust themselves to no purpose.
Isn’t all this from Adonai-Tzva’ot?
14 For the earth will be as full
of the knowledge of Adonai’s glory
as water covering the sea.
15 “‘Woe to him who has his neighbor drink,
adds his own poison and makes him drunk,
in order to see him naked.
16 You are filled with shame, not glory.
You, drink too, and stagger!
The cup of Adonai’s right hand
will be turned against you;
your shame will exceed your glory.
17 For the violence done to the L’vanon
will overwhelm you,
and the destruction of the wild animals
will terrify you;
because of the bloodshed and violence done
to the land, the city and all who live there.’”
18 What good is an idol, once its maker has shaped it,
a cast metal image and a teacher of lies,
that its maker puts his trust in it,
and goes on making non-gods, unable to talk?
19 Woe to him who tells a piece of wood, “Wake up!”
or a speechless stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can this thing teach? Why, it’s covered with gold and silver,
without the slightest breath in it!
20 But Adonai is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.
12 The next day, as they came back from Beit-Anyah, he felt hungry. 13 Spotting in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came up to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it wasn’t fig season. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his talmidim heard what he said.
20 In the morning, as the talmidim passed by, they saw the fig tree withered all the way to its roots. 21 Kefa remembered and said to Yeshua, “Rabbi! Look! The fig tree that you cursed has dried up!” 22 He responded, “Have the kind of trust that comes from God! 23 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, ‘Go and throw yourself into the sea!’ and it will be done for him. 24 Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.