Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
All the Tribes Are Guilty
3 Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire [a](A)family which [b]He brought up from the land of Egypt:
2 “(B)You only have I [c]known among all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will [d](C)punish you for all your wrongdoing.”
3 Do two people walk together unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a (D)lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion [e]growl from his den unless he has captured something?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no [f]device in it?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?
6 If a (E)trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble?
If a (F)disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?
7 [g]Certainly the Lord [h]God does nothing
Unless He (G)reveals His secret plan
To His servants the prophets.
8 A (H)lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The (I)Lord God has spoken! (J)Who can do anything but prophesy?
9 Proclaim on the citadels in (K)Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Assemble yourselves on the (L)mountains of Samaria and see the great panic within her and the (M)oppressions in her midst. 10 But they (N)do not know how to do what is right,” declares the Lord, “these who (O)store up [i]violence and devastation in their citadels.”
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
“An (P)enemy, one surrounding the land,
Will take down your fortifications from you,
And your (Q)citadels will be looted.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
The Sixth Trumpet: Army from the East
13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard [a]a voice from the [b]four (A)horns of the (B)golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (C)four angels who are bound at the (D)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were (E)released, so that they would kill a (F)third of mankind. 16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was (G)two hundred million; (H)I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw (I)in my vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire, of hyacinth, and of [c](J)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (K)out of their mouths *came fire and smoke and [d](L)brimstone. 18 A (M)third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (N)fire, the smoke, and the [e]brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (O)did not repent of (P)the works of their hands so as not to (Q)worship demons and (R)the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they (S)did not repent of their murders, nor of their (T)witchcraft, nor of their (U)sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.
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