Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song of David for the dedication of the Temple.[a]
30 Lord, you lifted me out of my troubles.
You did not give my enemies a reason to laugh,
so I will praise you.
2 Lord my God, I prayed to you,
and you healed me.
3 Lord, you lifted me out of the grave.
I was falling into the place of death, but you saved my life.
4 Praise the Lord, you who are loyal to him!
Praise his holy name[b]!
5 His anger lasts for a little while,
but then his kindness brings life.
The night may be filled with tears,
but in the morning we can sing for joy!
6 When I was safe and secure,
I thought nothing could hurt me.
7 Yes, Lord, while you were kind to me,
I felt that nothing could defeat me.[c]
But when you turned away from me,
I was filled with fear.
8 So, Lord, I turned and prayed to you.
I asked you, Lord, to show me mercy.
9 I said, “What good is it if I die
and go down to the grave?
The dead just lie in the dirt.
They cannot praise you.
They cannot tell anyone how faithful you are.
10 Lord, hear my prayer, and be kind to me.
Lord, help me!”
11 You have changed my sorrow into dancing.
You have taken away my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy.
12 You wanted me to praise you and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever!
The Lord Destroyed Jerusalem
2 Look how the Lord has covered daughter Zion[a]
with the cloud of his anger.
He has thrown her, the glory of Israel,
from the sky to the ground.
In his anger he showed no care even for the Temple
where he rests his feet.[b]
2 The Lord destroyed the houses of Jacob.
He destroyed them without mercy.
In his anger he destroyed the fortresses of Daughter Judah.
He threw the kingdom of Judah and its rulers to the ground.
He ruined the kingdom of Judah.
3 He was angry, and he destroyed
all the strength of Israel.
He took away his right hand from Israel.
He did this when the enemy came.
He burned like a flaming fire in Jacob.
He was like a fire that burns all around.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy.
He held his sword in his right hand.
He killed all the good-looking men of Judah.
He killed them as if they were the enemy.
He poured out his anger
like a fire on the tents of Zion.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and all her fortresses.
He has made much sadness and crying
for the dead in Daughter Judah.
6 He pulled up his own tent[c]
as if it were a garden.
He has ruined the place where the people
came together to worship him.
The Lord has made people forget
the special assemblies and special days of rest[d] in Zion.
He rejected the king and the priests.
He was angry and rejected them.
7 He rejected his altar,
and he left his holy place of worship.
He let the enemy pull down the walls
of the palaces of Jerusalem.
The enemy shouted with joy in the Lord’s Temple.
They made noise as though it were a festival.
8 The Lord planned to destroy
the wall of Daughter Zion.
He marked the wall with a measuring line.
He didn’t stop himself from destroying it.
He made all the walls cry out in sadness.
Together they wasted away.
9 Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground.
The bars on her gates are completely destroyed.
Her king and princes have been taken to other nations.
The teaching of the law has stopped.
And her prophets no longer receive
visions from the Lord.
10 The elders of Zion sit on the ground.
They sit on the ground and are quiet.
They pour dust on their heads.
They put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground in sorrow.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears,
and my insides are upset.
My heart feels like it has been poured on the ground;
I feel this way because of the destruction of my people.
Children and babies are fainting
in the public squares of the city.
12 They ask their mothers,
“Where is the bread and wine?”
as they pour out their life in their mother’s laps.
Help for God’s People in Judea
8 And now, brothers and sisters, we want to tell you what God’s grace has done in the churches in Macedonia. 2 These believers have been tested by great troubles, and they are very poor. But their great joy caused them to be very generous in their giving. 3 I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford. No one told them to do this. It was their idea. 4 But they asked us again and again—they begged us to let them share in this service for God’s people. 5 And they gave in a way that we did not expect: They gave themselves to the Lord and to us before they gave their money. This is what God wants.
6 So we asked Titus to help you finish this special work of giving. He is the one who started this work. 7 You are rich in everything—in faith, in speaking ability, in knowledge, in the willingness to help, and in the love you learned from us. So now we want you to be rich in this work of giving too.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International