Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A song of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Use your strength.
Come and save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God of heaven’s armies,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people tears.
You have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us.
Our enemies make fun of us.
7 God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
17 Help the man you have chosen.
Make this human being strong for your service.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
The Evil Plans of People
2 How terrible it will be for people who plan wickedness.
They lie on their beds and make evil plans.
When the morning light comes, they do the things they planned.
They do them just because they have the power to do so.
2 They want fields; so they take them.
They want houses; so they take them.
They cheat a man and take his house.
They cheat a man and take his property.
3 That is why the Lord says:
“Look, I am planning trouble against such people.
You won’t be able to save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
because it will be a terrible time.
4 At that time people will make fun of you.
They will sing this sad song about you:
‘We are completely ruined.
The Lord has taken away our land.
Yes, he has taken our land away from us.
He has divided our fields among our enemies!’”
5 So you will have no land for people to measure.
They will not throw lots to divide the land among the Lord’s people.
Micah Is Asked Not to Prophesy
6 People say, “Don’t prophesy to us!
Don’t say those bad things about us!
Nothing like that will happen to us!”
7 But I must say this, people of Jacob.
The Lord is becoming angry about what you have done.
If you lived right,
I could say nice words to you.
8 But recently, my people have become my enemy.
You take the coats from people who pass by.
They think they are safe.
But you rob them
as if they were prisoners of war.
9 You’ve forced the women of my people
from their nice houses.
You’ve taken my glory
from their children forever.
10 Get up and leave.
This is not your promised place of rest anymore.
You have made this place unclean.
It is doomed to destruction.
11 But you people want a false prophet
who will tell you nothing but lies.
You want one who promises to prophesy good things for you
if you give him wine and beer.
He’s just the prophet for you.
The Lord Promises to Rescue His People
12 “Yes, people of Jacob, I will bring all of you together.
I will bring together all those left alive in Israel.
I’ll put them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture.
Then the place will be filled with many people.
13 Someone will open the way and lead the people out.
The people will break through the gate and leave the city where they were held captive.
Their king will go out in front of them.
The Lord will lead his people.”
15 “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the horrible thing that destroys.’[a] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) 16 “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. 17 If a person is on the roof[b] of his house, he must not go down to get anything out of his house. 18 If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. 19 At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 20 Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. 21 This is because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. 22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. 23 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 24 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will fool them, if that is possible. 25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.
26 “If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert’—don’t go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room’—don’t believe it. 27 When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. 28 Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Soon after the trouble of those days, this will happen:
‘The sun will grow dark.
And the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from the sky.
And everything in the sky will be changed.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
30 “At that time, there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man is coming. All the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky. He will come with great power and glory. 31 He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the world.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.