Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Is Forever—Man’s Short Life
90 Lord, You have been the place of comfort for all people of all time. 2 Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, forever and ever, You are God.
3 You change man into dust again, and say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday when it passes by, or like the hours of the night. 5 You carry men away as with a flood. They fall asleep. In the morning they are like the new grass that grows. 6 It grows well in the morning, but dries up and dies by evening.
7 For we are burned up by Your anger. By Your anger we are troubled and afraid. 8 You have set our wrong-doing before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face.
9 For all our days pass away in Your anger. We finish our years with a quiet cry. 10 The days of our life are seventy years, or eighty if we have the strength. Yet the best of them are only hard work and sorrow. For they are soon gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger? Your anger is as great as the fear that we should have for You.
12 Teach us to understand how many days we have. Then we will have a heart of wisdom to give You.
The Lord Judges Israel for Worshiping False Gods
6 The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel, and tell what is going to happen against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the Word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, the hills, the deep and wide valleys: “I Myself am going to bring a sword against you. And I will destroy your high places. 4 So your altars will be laid waste. Your altars for special perfume will be broken. And I will kill your people in front of your false gods. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their false gods, and spread your bones around your altars. 6 In every place you live, cities will be laid waste and the high places will be destroyed. Your altars will be laid waste and destroyed. Your false gods will be broken and destroyed. Your altars for special perfume will come to an end. 7 Your people will fall dead among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
8 “But I will leave some of you alive. For some of you will get away from the sword when you are spread among the lands and nations. 9 Then those who get away will remember Me in the nations where they have been taken. They will remember how I have been hurt by their sinful hearts which turned away from Me, and by their sinful eyes which followed after their false gods. And they will hate themselves in their own eyes for the sins they have done, for all their sinful ways. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have not spoken with empty words that I would bring this trouble upon them.”’
11 “The Lord God says, ‘Clap your hands, and step hard with your feet, and say, “It is bad because of all the hated sins of the people of Israel! They will fall by the sword, hunger, and disease. 12 He who is far away will die by disease. And he who is near will be killed by the sword. He who stays and is shut in by armies will die by hunger. This is how I will send My anger upon them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their dead lie among their false gods around their altars. They will lie on every high hill, on all the mountain tops, under every green tree, and under every oak tree with many leaves. Their dead will be in all the places where they burned special perfume to all their false gods. 14 I will put out My hand against them in every place they live. I will make the land more of a waste than the desert toward Diblah. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”
The First Jar—Painful Sores
16 Then I heard a loud voice coming from the house of God. The voice said to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven jars of God’s anger onto the earth!”
2 The first angel poured out his jar of God’s anger onto the earth. Painful sores were given to everyone who had the mark of the wild animal and who worshiped his god.
The Second Jar—Death in the Sea
3 The second angel poured out his jar of God’s anger onto the sea. The water became like the blood of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died.
The Third Jar—Water Turns to Blood
4 The third angel poured out his jar of God’s anger onto the rivers and places where water comes out of the earth. The water turned to blood. 5 I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are right in punishing by sending this trouble. You are the Holy One Who was and is and will be. 6 They have poured out the blood of God’s people and of the early preachers. You have given them blood to drink. They are getting the pay that is coming to them.” 7 I heard a voice from the altar saying, “Lord God, the All-powerful One! What You decide about people is right and true.”
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