Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Psalm, while he was in the Judean wilderness.
Joyful Trust in God
63 God, you are my God!
I will fervently seek you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my flesh longs for you in a dry, weary, and parched land.
2 So I have looked for you in the sanctuary,
to behold your power and glory.
3 Because your gracious love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in your name.
5 Just as I am satisfied with the choicest of foods,[a]
so my lips will praise you joyfully.
6 When I think of you in bed,
I will meditate on you in the night watches.
7 For you have been my strength,
and in the shadow of your wings I will shout for joy.
8 My soul clings to you,
even as your right hand supports me.
9 But as for those who seek to destroy me,
they will go down to the depths of the earth;
10 May they be given over to the power of[b] the sword;
may they become carrion for jackals.
11 But as for the king,
he will rejoice in God.
Indeed, everyone who swears by God[c] will exult,
because the mouths of liars will be silenced.
The Lord’s Call to Judgment
9 “Declare this among the nations:
‘Prepare for war!
Wake up your elite forces!
Let all the soldiers draw near!
Call them up!
10 Beat your plow blades into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears!
Let the frail say, “I am strong!”
11 Hurry and come, all you gentiles!
Gather yourselves together!’”
“Lord, cause your mighty army[a] to come down.
12 “Let the nations be awakened
and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
because I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle,
because the harvest is ripe.
Come and go down,
because the winepress is full.
The wine vats are overflowing,
because their evil is great!
14 “Multitudes, multitudes
in the Valley of Judgment!
For the Day of the Lord is near
in the Valley of Judgment!
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will stop shining.
16 “The Lord will roar from Zion,
and shout from Jerusalem.
The heavens and the earth will shake,
but the Lord will be the refuge of his people,
and the strength of the people of Israel.”
God’s Blessings on His People
17 “And truly you will know that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
and no foreigners will invade her again.
18 It will come about at that time
that the mountains will drip with newly pressed wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and the streams of Judah will flow abundantly.
A fountain will spring from the Temple of the Lord,
to water the Valley of the Acacias.
19 Egypt will be desolate,
and Edom will be a desert,
because of violence against the people of Judah
since they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will live forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will acquit their bloodguilt that has not yet been acquitted.
For the Lord lives in Zion!”
The Coming of the Son of Man(A)
29 “Now immediately after the troubles[a] of those days,
‘The sun will be darkened,
the moon will not reflect its light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers from the heavens will be disrupted.’[b]
30 Then the sign that is the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land[c] will mourn’[d] as they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’[e] with power and great glory. 31 He’ll send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they’ll gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.”
The Lesson from the Fig Tree(B)
32 “Now learn a lesson[f] from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you’ll know that the Son of Man[g] is near, right at the door. 34 I tell all of you[h] with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.