Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Safekeeping from Wickedness
A Psalm of David.
141 Lord, I cry out to You;
Make haste to me!
Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.
2 Let my prayer be set before You (A)as incense,
(B)The lifting up of my hands as (C)the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my (D)mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works
With men who work iniquity;
(E)And do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5 (F)Let the righteous strike me;
It shall be a kindness.
And let him rebuke me;
It shall be as excellent oil;
Let my head not refuse it.
For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked.
6 Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the [a]cliff,
And they hear my words, for they are sweet.
7 Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,
As when one plows and breaks up the earth.
The Temple, the Lord’s Dwelling Place
43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate (A)that faces toward the east. 2 (B)And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. (C)His voice was like the sound of many waters; (D)and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was (E)like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when [a]I came (F)to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw (G)by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 (H)And the glory of the Lord came into the [b]temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 (I)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, (J)the glory of the Lord filled the [c]temple.
6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while (K)a man stood beside me. 7 And He said to me, “Son of man, this is (L)the place of My throne and (M)the place of the soles of My feet, (N)where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. (O)No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their [d]harlotry or with (P)the carcasses of their kings on their high places. 8 (Q)When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
10 “Son of man, (R)describe the [e]temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the [f]temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its (S)ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and (T)perform them. 12 This is the law of the [g]temple: The whole area surrounding (U)the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem(A)
37 (B)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets (C)and stones those who are sent to her! How often (D)I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks (E)under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, (F)‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(G)
24 Then (H)Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, (I)not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age(J)
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, (K)the disciples came to Him privately, saying, (L)“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: (M)“Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For (N)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ (O)and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of (P)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for [a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For (Q)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be (R)famines, [b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 (S)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then (T)many false prophets will rise up and (U)deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow (V)cold. 13 (W)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this (X)gospel of the kingdom (Y)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.