Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Director: On the Gittith.
A Psalm by the descendants of Korah.
Longing for God
84 How lovely are your dwelling places,
Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
2 I desire and long
for the Temple[a] courts of the Lord.
My heart and body[b] sing for joy
to the living God.[c]
3 Even the sparrow found a house for herself
and the swallow a nest
to lay[d] her young at your altar,
Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
my king and God.
4 How happy are those who live in your Temple,
for they can praise you continuously.
5 How happy are those whose strength is in you,
whose heart is on your path.
6 They will pass through the Baca Valley
where he will prepare a spring for them;
even the early rain will cover it with blessings.
7 They will walk from strength to strength;
each will appear before God in Zion.
A Call to Lament
17 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Think about what I’m saying![a]
Indeed, call out the professional mourners![b]
Send for the best of them to come.
18 Let them hurry and lament for us.
Let tears run down from our eyes,
and let our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of mourning is heard from Zion:
‘How we’re ruined!
Our shame is very great,
because we have left the land,
because our houses are torn down.’”
20 “Now, you women, hear the message from the Lord;
listen to what he has to say!
Teach your daughters how to mourn,
let every woman teach[c] her friend how to lament.
21 For death comes up through our windows;
it has come into our palaces
to eliminate children from the streets
and young men from the town squares.
22 Speak! ‘This is what the Lord says:
“The corpses of people will fall like dung
on the surface of the field,
and like a row of cut grain behind
the harvester when there is no one to gather it.”’”
True Wisdom and the Coming Judgment
23 This is what the Lord says: “The wise man is not to boast in his wisdom; the strong man is not to boast in his strength; and the rich man is not to boast in his riches. 24 Rather, let the one who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows me, for I am the Lord who acts with gracious love, justice, and righteousness in the land. I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.
25 “Look, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I’ll punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh:[d] 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, all those who live in the desert and shave the corners of their beard;[e] indeed all the other[f] nations that are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel that is uncircumcised of heart.”
Continue to Teach the Truth
10 But you have observed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 and how I was persecuted and suffered in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in union with the Messiah[a] Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it. 15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah[b] Jesus.
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