Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for National Deliverance and Security
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
2 my rock[a] and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues the peoples under him.[b]
3 O Lord, what is man that thou dost regard him,
or the son of man that thou dost think of him?
4 Man is like a breath,
his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down!
Touch the mountains that they smoke!
6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them,
send out thy arrows and rout them!
7 Stretch forth thy hand from on high,
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand of aliens,
8 whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to thee, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to thee,
10 who givest victory to kings,
who rescuest David thy[c] servant.
11 Rescue me from the cruel sword,
and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
13 may our garners be full,
providing all manner of store;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
14 may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mischance or failure in bearing;
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
15 Happy the people to whom such blessings fall!
Happy the people whose God is the Lord!
Homecoming
5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in travail with you,
there she who bore you was in travail.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is cruel as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
it would be utterly scorned.
8 We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister,
on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build upon her a battlement of silver;
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who brings[a] peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Ba′al-ha′mon;
he let out the vineyard to keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is for myself;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
my companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
14 Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
upon the mountains of spices.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him; 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place[a] and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Ca′iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all; 50 you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called E′phraim; and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if any one knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.