Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 3
A song of David composed while fleeing from his son Absalom.
This Davidic psalm recalls the time when David fled from Jerusalem after Absalom, his son, rebelled and claimed the throne (2 Samuel 15–17).
1 Eternal One, my adversaries are many, too many to count.
Now they have taken a stand against me!
2 Right to my face they say,
“God will not save you!”
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3 But You, Eternal One, wrap around me like an impenetrable shield.
You give me glory and lift my eyes up to the heavens.
4 I lift my voice to You, Eternal One,
and You answer me from Your sacred heights.
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5 I lie down at night and fall asleep.
I awake in the morning—healthy, strong, vibrant—because the Eternal supports me.
6 No longer will I fear my tens of thousands of enemies
who have surrounded me!
7 Rise up, O Eternal One!
Rescue me, O God!
For You have dealt my enemies a strong blow to the jaw!
You have shattered their teeth! Do so again.
8 Liberation truly comes from the Eternal.
Let Your blessings shower down upon Your people.
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12 Woe to him who builds a city on bloodshed
and who establishes a town by injustice!
13 Look! Is it not because of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
that all the people work for is consumed in fire
And that all the nations produce comes to nothing?
14 For as the waters cover the sea,
the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge
That the Eternal is glorious and powerful.
15 Woe to you who gives his neighbors a drink,
who keeps filling their cup with your anger and malice
To intoxicate them so you can uncover their shame
and look at their nakedness!
16 Instead of honor, you are going to have your fill of shame.
Now drink up and expose your own uncircumcised nakedness, your lack of God’s mark.
The cup in the Eternal’s right hand will come around to you,
and disgrace will eclipse your current glory.
17 For the violence done against Lebanon will now overtake you;
the terror you showed the animals in turn will terrorize you.
Because you shed blood and wrought violence in the earth,
you have destroyed cities and all their inhabitants.
18 What use is an idol shaped by its maker?
It is nothing but an image cast in metal; it teaches deception.
For a foolish idol-maker puts faith in his own creation,
a god that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to a block of wood, “Wake up!”
or to a silent stone, “Arise!”
Are inanimate objects your teachers?
Look, it may be covered in gold and silver,
But there is no breath of life inside.
20 But the Eternal One is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silent in His presence.
12 The next morning, when they departed Bethany and were traveling back to the city, Jesus was hungry. 13 Off in the distance, He saw a fig tree fully leafed out, so He headed toward it to see if it might have any ripe fruit. But when He reached it, He found only leaves because the fig season had not yet come.
14 As the disciples listened, Jesus pronounced a curse on the tree.
Jesus: No one will ever eat fruit from your branches again.
20 The next morning on the way back to Jerusalem, they passed a tree that had withered down to its very roots.
Peter (remembering): 21 That’s the fig tree, Teacher, the one You cursed just yesterday morning. It’s withered away to nothing!
Jesus: 22 Trust in God. 23 If you do, honestly, you can say to this mountain, “Mountain, uproot yourself and throw yourself into the sea.” If you don’t doubt, but trust that what you say will take place, then it will happen. 24 So listen to what I’m saying: Whatever you pray for or ask from God, believe that you’ll receive it and you will.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.