Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 82[a]
The Downfall of Unjust Gods
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
God takes a stand in the divine council,
gives judgment in the midst of the gods.(A)
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and favor the cause of the wicked?(B)
Selah
3 “Defend the lowly and fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Rescue the lowly and poor;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”(C)
II
5 [b]The gods neither know nor understand,
wandering about in darkness,
and all the world’s foundations shake.
6 I declare: “Gods though you be,[c](D)
offspring of the Most High all of you,
7 Yet like any mortal you shall die;
like any prince you shall fall.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,[d]
for yours are all the nations.
Chapter 6
The Ark Is Returned. 1 The ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines seven months 2 when they summoned priests and diviners to ask, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send back with it.” 3 They replied: “If you intend to send back the ark of the God of Israel, you must not send it alone, but must, by all means, make amends to God through a reparation offering.[a] Then you will be healed, and will learn why God continues to afflict you.” 4 When asked further, “What reparation offering should be our amends to God?” they replied: “Five golden tumors and five golden mice to correspond to the number of Philistine leaders, since the same plague has struck all of you and your leaders. 5 Therefore, make images of the tumors and of the mice that are devastating your land and so give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps then God will lift his hand from you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why should you become stubborn, the way the Egyptians and Pharaoh were stubborn? Was it not after he had dealt ruthlessly with them that the Israelites were released and departed?(A) 7 So now set to work and make a new cart. Then take two milk cows that have not borne the yoke; hitch them to the cart, but drive their calves indoors away from them.[b](B) 8 You shall next take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, putting the golden articles that you are offering as reparation for your guilt in a box beside it. Start it on its way, and let it go. 9 Then watch! If it goes up to Beth-shemesh[c] along the route to the Lord’s territory, then it was the Lord who brought this great calamity upon us; if not, we will know that it was not the Lord’s hand, but a bad turn, that struck us.”
The Ark in Beth-shemesh. 10 They acted upon this advice. Taking two milk cows, they hitched them to the cart but shut up their calves indoors. 11 Then they placed the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the golden mice and the images of the tumors. 12 The cows went straight for the route to Beth-shemesh and continued along this road, mooing as they went, turning neither right nor left. The Philistine leaders followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting the wheat in the valley. They looked up and rejoiced when they saw the ark. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there. At a large stone in the field, the wood of the cart was split up and the cows were offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.(C) 15 The Levites, meanwhile, had taken down the ark of God and the box beside it, with the golden articles, and had placed them on the great stone. The people of Beth-shemesh also offered other burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord that day.(D) 16 After witnessing this, the five Philistine leaders returned to Ekron the same day.
15 (A)“When you see the desolating abomination[a] spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee[b] to the mountains, 17 [c](B)a person on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house, 18 a person in the field must not return to get his cloak. 19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. 20 [d]Pray that your flight not be in winter or on the sabbath, 21 [e](C)for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. 23 (D)If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. 26 So if they say to you, ‘He is in the desert,’ do not go out there; if they say, ‘He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.[f] 27 (E)For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
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