Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
74 O God, why have You rejected us forever? Is Your wrath kindled against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Think upon the congregation which You have possessed of old; and on the rod of Your inheritance which You have redeemed; and on this Mount Zion wherein You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your feet to perpetual desolations. The enemy has broken everything in the Sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries roar in the midst of Your congregation and set up their banners for signs.
5 He who lifted the axes upon the thick trees was renowned as one who brought a thing to perfection.
6 But now they break down the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.
7 They have cast Your Sanctuary into the fire and razed it to the ground. They have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8 They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.” They have burnt all the synagogues of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs. There has not been one Prophet, nor is there any with us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach You? Shall the enemy blaspheme Your Name forever?
11 Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Draw it out of Your bosom and consume them!
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the Earth.
13 You divided the sea by Your power. You broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 You broke the head of Leviathan in pieces and gave him to be food for the people in wilderness.
15 You broke up the fountain and river. You dry up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours and the night is Yours. You have prepared the light and the Sun.
17 You have set all the borders of the Earth. You have made Summer and Winter.
18 Remember this: the enemy has reproached the LORD and the foolish people have blasphemed Your Name.
19 Do not give the life of Your turtledove to the beast. Do not forget the Congregation of Your poor, forever.
20 Consider Your Covenant; for the dark places of the Earth are full of the habitations of the cruel.
21 O, do not let the oppressed return ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
22 Arise, O God! Maintain Your own cause! Remember Your daily reproach by the foolish man.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies. The tumult of those who rise against You ascends continually. To him who excels: Do not destroy. A Psalm, or song, committed to Asaph
16 “LORD, in trouble have they visited You. They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 “Like a woman with child who draws near to the birth is in sorrow and cries in her pains, so have we been in Your sight, O LORD.
18 “We have conceived, we have born in pain, as though we should have brought forth wind. There was no help on the Earth, nor did the inhabitants of the world fall.
19 “Your dead men shall live, with my body shall they rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust. For your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast out the dead.
20 “Come, my people, enter into your chambers and shut your doors after you. Hide yourself for a very little while, until the indignation passes over.
21 “For lo, the LORD comes out of His place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the Earth upon them. And the Earth shall disclose her blood, and shall hide her slain no more.”
27 On that day, the LORD, with His severe and great and mighty sword shall visit Leviathan, that piercing serpent, even Leviathan, that crooked serpent. And He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
14 Then He cast out a demon who was dumb. And when the demon had gone out, the dumb spoke, and the people wondered.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons through Beelzebub, the chief of the demons.
16 And others tempted Him, seeking a sign from Heaven from Him.
17 But He knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be desolate. And a house divided against a house, falls.
18 So, if Satan is also divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons through Beelzebub?
19 If I cast out demons through Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges.
20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, doubtless the Kingdom of God has come to you.
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, the things that he possesses are in peace.
22 But when someone stronger comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes away all the armor in which he had trusted and divides his spoils.
23 “Whoever is not with Me, is against Me. And whoever does not gather with Me, scatters.
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest. And when he finds none, he says, ‘I will return to the house from where I came out.’
25 “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself. And they enter in, and dwell there. So, the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
27 And it happened that as He said these things, a certain woman in the crowd lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which You have sucked.”
28 But He said, “On the contrary. Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.”
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