Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 13
A Plea for Deliverance
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, how long will You forget me?
Forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?(A)
2 How long will I store up anxious concerns[a] within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?(B)
Interpretation of the Vision
15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.(A) 16 I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel,(B) explain the vision to this man.”
17 So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.(C) “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”(D) 18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep,(E) with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,(F) 19 and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.(G) 20 The two-horned ram(H) that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.[a] 22 The four horns that took the place of the shattered horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.
23 Near the end of their kingdoms,
when the rebels have reached
the full measure of their sin,[b]
an insolent king, skilled in intrigue,[c]
will come to the throne.
24 His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause terrible destruction(I)
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.(J)
25 He will cause deceit to prosper
through his cunning and by his influence,
and in his own mind he will make himself great.
He will destroy many in a time of peace;
he will even stand against the Prince of princes.
Yet he will be shattered—not by human hands.(K)
26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings
that has been told is true.
Now you must seal up the vision(L)
because it refers to many days in the future.”
27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days.(M) Then I got up and went about the king’s business.(N) I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.
32 Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.(A) 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.(B) 34 For you sympathized with the prisoners[a] and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession.[b](C) 35 So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.(D) 36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.(E)
37 For yet in a very little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 But My righteous one[c] will live by faith;
and if he draws back,
I have no pleasure in him.(F)[d]
39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life.
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