Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 126
Zion’s Restoration
A song of ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a]
we were like those who dream.(A)
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter then,(B)
and our tongues with shouts of joy.(C)
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”(D)
3 The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.(E)
False Prophets Condemned
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,(A)
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;(B)
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life[a] has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly,(C)
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Therefore, their way will be to them
like slippery paths in the gloom.(D)
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by[b] Baal
and led My people Israel astray.(E)
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom(F) to Me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:
The Greatness of Melchizedek
7 For this Melchizedek—
King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,
who met Abraham and blessed him
as he returned from defeating the kings,
2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything;
first, his name means king of righteousness,
then also, king of Salem,
meaning king of peace;
3 without father, mother, or genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but resembling the Son of God(A)—
remains a priest forever.
4 Now consider how great this man was—even Abraham the patriarch(B) gave a tenth of the plunder to him! 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people(C)—that is, from their brothers—though they have also descended from Abraham.[a] 6 But one without this[b] lineage collected tenths from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.(D) 7 Without a doubt,[c] the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive tenths, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.(E) 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives tenths, has paid tenths through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor[d] when Melchizedek met him.
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