Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 84[a]
Longing for God’s Dwelling
1 For the director.[b] “Upon the gittith.” A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts.[c]
3 My soul yearns and is filled with longing
for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
4 Just as the sparrow searches for a home
and the swallow builds a nest for herself
where she may place her young,
so do I seek your altars,[d]
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
5 Blessed[e] are those who dwell in your house;
they offer continuous praise to you. Selah
6 Blessed are those who find strength in you,
who set their hearts upon your ways.[f]
7 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they turn it into a region of springs,
and the early rain covers it with pools.[g]
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Listen to my command! Summon the mourning women;
send for those who are most skilled in this regard.
18 Let them come quickly
and raise a dirge for us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears
and our cheeks may be wet with weeping.
19 May a sound of lamenting be heard in Zion,
“Great is our ruin;
intense is our shame.
We must leave our land;
our homes have been destroyed.”[a]
20 Listen, you women, to the word of the Lord;
let your ears receive the message he imparts.
21 Death has climbed through our windows
and has entered our palaces.
It has cut down the children in the streets
and the young people in the public squares.
22 The corpses of the slain will be strewn
like dung on an open field,
like sheaves left behind by the reaper
with no one to gather them.
True Wisdom
23 Thus says the Lord:
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,
or the strong man boast of his strength,
or the rich man boast of his wealth.
24 But if any wish to boast,
let them boast of this:
that they understand and know me.
For I am the Lord who governs the earth
with unfailing love, justice, and righteousness.
In these things I delight,
says the Lord.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will demand an account of all those who are circumcised only in the flesh: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaved temples who dwell in the desert.[b] For all those nations, and the entire house of Israel as well, are uncircumcised in heart.”
10 Remain Faithful in Persecution. As for you, however, you have followed my teaching, my way of life, my aims, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, 11 my persecutions, my sufferings—the things that I faced in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra and that I endured. Yet the Lord brought me out safely from all of them.[a]
12 Indeed, persecution will afflict all who want to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus, 13 while wicked people and impostors will grow ever worse, deceiving others and being themselves deceived. 14 But as for you, stand by what you have learned and firmly believed, because you know from whom you have learned it.[b]
15 Gain Wisdom from the Inspired Scriptures. Also remember that from the time you were a child you have known the sacred Scriptures. From these you can acquire the wisdom that will lead you to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
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