Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[a]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[b]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[c]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[d] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[e]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[f] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[g]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[h] all the nations.
The Return of the Ark of Covenant
6 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, 2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors[a] and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumors[b] and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left? 7 So then, prepare[c] one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall. 8 And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container[d] beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away. 9 You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us. 10 So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall. 11 Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container[e] holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went.[f] They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it. 14 The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container[g] that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone.[h] Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made[i] sacrifices to Yahweh on that day. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that same day.
The Abomination of Desolation
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation[a] spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place” (let the one who reads understand), 16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! 17 The one who is on his[b] housetop must not come down to take things out of his house, 18 and the one who is in the field must not turn back to pick up his cloak. 19 And woe to those who are pregnant[c] and to those who are nursing their babies[d] in those days! 20 But pray that your flight may not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will happen. 22 And unless those days had been shortened, no human being would be saved.[e] But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
23 “At that time if anyone should say to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘Here he is,’ do not believe him![f] 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce great signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you ahead of time! 26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or[g] ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it![h] 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
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