Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our home
since the beginning.
2 Before the mountains were born
and before you created the earth and the world,
you are God.
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into dust.
You say, “Go back into dust, human beings.”
4 To you, a thousand years
is like the passing of a day,
or like a few hours in the night.
5 While people sleep, you take their lives.
They are like grass that grows up in the morning.
6 In the morning they are fresh and new,
but by evening they dry up and die.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your hot anger.
8 You have put the evil we have done right in front of you;
you clearly see our secret sins.
9 All our days pass while you are angry.
Our years end with a moan.
10 Our lifetime is seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
But the years are full of hard work and pain.
They pass quickly, and then we are gone.
11 Who knows the full power of your anger?
Your anger is as great as our fear of you should be.
12 Teach us how short our lives really are
so that we may be wise.
10 “Look, the day is here. It has come. Disaster has come, violence has grown, and there is more pride than ever. 11 Violence has grown into a weapon for punishing wickedness. None of the people will be left—none of that crowd, none of their wealth, and nothing of value. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Don’t let the buyer be happy or the seller be sad, because my burning anger is against the whole crowd. 13 Sellers will not return to the land they have sold as long as they live, because the vision against all that crowd will not be changed. Because of their sins, they will not save their lives. 14 They have blown the trumpet, and everything is ready. But no one is going to the battle, because my anger is against all that crowd.
15 “The sword is outside, and disease and hunger are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. Hunger and disease will destroy those in the city. 16 Those who are left alive and who escape will be on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys about their own sin. 17 All hands will hang weakly with fear, and all knees will become weak as water. 18 They will put on rough cloth to show how sad they are. They will tremble all over with fear. Their faces will show their shame, and all their heads will be shaved. 19 The people will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like trash. Their silver and gold will not save them from the Lord’s anger. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, because it caused them to fall into sin. 20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their idols and their evil statues, which I hate. So I will turn their wealth into trash. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot from war and to the most evil people in the world as treasure, and they will dishonor it. 22 I will also turn away from the people of Israel, and they will dishonor my treasured place. Then robbers will enter and dishonor it.
23 “Make chains for captives, because the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 So I will bring the worst of the nations to take over the people’s houses. I will also end the pride of the strong, and their holy places will be dishonored. 25 When the people are suffering greatly, they will look for peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster will come on top of disaster, and rumor will be added to rumor. Then they will try to get a vision from a prophet; the teachings of God from the priest and the advice from the elders will be lost. 27 The king will cry greatly, the prince will give up hope, and the hands of the people who own land will shake with fear. I will punish them for the way they have lived. The way they have judged others is the way I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
People Today Are Full of Evil
43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest, but it doesn’t find it. 44 So the spirit says, ‘I will go back to the house I left.’ When the spirit comes back, it finds the house still empty, swept clean, and made neat. 45 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits even more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.