Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

80 O Shepherd of Israel who leads Israel like a flock; O God enthroned above the Guardian Angels, bend down your ear and listen as I plead. Display your power and radiant glory. ² Let Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh see you rouse yourself and use your mighty power to rescue us.

³ Turn us again to yourself, O God. Look down on us in joy and love;^[a] only then shall we be saved.

⁴ O Jehovah, God of heaven’s armies, how long will you be angry and reject our prayers? ⁵ You have fed us with sorrow and tears ⁶ and have made us the scorn of the neighboring nations. They laugh among themselves.

⁷ Turn us again to yourself, O God of Hosts. Look down on us in joy and love;^[b] only then shall we be saved.

¹⁰ Sing a new song to the Lord; sing his praises, all you who live in earth’s remotest corners! Sing, O sea! Sing, all you who live in distant lands beyond the sea! ¹¹ Join in the chorus, you desert cities—Kedar and Sela! And you, too, dwellers in the mountaintops. ¹² Let the western coastlands glorify the Lord and sing his mighty power.

¹³ The Lord will be a mighty warrior, full of fury toward his foes. He will give a great shout and prevail. ¹⁴ Long has he been silent; he has restrained himself. But now he will give full vent to his wrath; he will groan and cry like a woman delivering her child. ¹⁵ He will level the mountains and hills and blight their greenery. He will dry up the rivers and pools. ¹⁶ He will bring blind Israel along a path they have not seen before. He will make the darkness bright before them and smooth and straighten out the road ahead. He will not forsake them. ¹⁷ But those who trust in idols and call them gods will be greatly disappointed; they will be turned away.

¹⁸ Oh, how blind and deaf you are toward God! Why won’t you listen? Why won’t you see?

³² Don’t ever forget those wonderful days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you kept right on with the Lord even though it meant terrible suffering. ³³ Sometimes you were laughed at and beaten, and sometimes you watched and sympathized with others suffering the same things. ³⁴ You suffered with those thrown into jail, and you were actually joyful when all you owned was taken from you, knowing that better things were awaiting you in heaven, things that would be yours forever.

³⁵ Do not let this happy trust in the Lord die away, no matter what happens. Remember your reward! ³⁶ You need to keep on patiently doing God’s will if you want him to do for you all that he has promised. ³⁷ His coming will not be delayed much longer. ³⁸ And those whose faith has made them good in God’s sight must live by faith, trusting him in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, God will have no pleasure in them.

³⁹ But we have never turned our backs on God and sealed our fate. No, our faith in him assures our souls’ salvation.