Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150[a]
Psalm 146[b]
Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer
1 [c]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.[d]
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God throughout my life.[e]
3 Do not place your trust in princes,
in mortal men who have no power to save.
4 When the spirit departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day all their plans come to naught.[f]
5 [g]Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,[h]
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,[i]
the sea, and everything in them—
the one who keeps faith forever.
7 He grants justice to the oppressed[j]
and gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners
8 and opens the eyes of those who cannot see.[k]
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the stranger
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,[l]
but he blocks the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,[m]
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Alleluia.
Divine Punishment of Assyria
27 See, the name of the Lord approaches from afar,
with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke.
His lips are brimming over with anger,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing flood
that reaches up to the neck;
it will winnow the nations with the sieve of destruction
and place on the jaws of the people
a bridle that will lead them astray.
29 But as for you, your songs will be
like those on the night of a holy festival,
and you will experience joy in your hearts
such as occurs when, to the sound of a flute,
people make a pilgrimage to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 Then the Lord will make his majestic voice heard
and allow his arm to be seen
as it descends in furious anger
and a flame of devouring fire
amid cloudbursts and thunderstorms and hail.
31 Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the Lord
as he strikes with his rod.
32 Every stroke that the Lord inflicts upon Assyria
with his punishing rod
will be accompanied by the sound
of timbrels and lyres
as he engages in battle
with his uplifted hand.
33 The pyre has been ready for a long time,
prepared for the king.
His pyre is deep and broad,
with fire and wood in abundance.
And the breath of the Lord, like a steam of sulfur,
will set it ablaze.[a]
Chapter 2
Judging Is Inexcusable. 1 Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you may be, when you pass judgment on others. For in judging others you condemn yourself, since you are doing the same things. 2 We are all aware that God’s judgment on those who commit such deeds is just. 3 How can you then suppose that you will escape the judgment of God for doing such things when you are condemning those who perform the same things?
4 How can you despise the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience? How can you fail to realize that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 By your obstinate refusal to repent you are storing up retribution for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 For God will repay everyone in accordance with what his deeds deserve.[a] 7 To those who seek after glory and honor and immortality by persevering in good works, he will grant eternal life. 8 But for those who are slaves to selfish ambition and follow the path of wickedness and not of truth, wrath and fury will be their lot.
9 There will be affliction and distress for everyone who does evil—Jews first and then Gentiles. 10 However, glory, honor, and peace await everyone who does good—Jews first, and then Gentiles. 11 For God shows no partiality.[b]
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