Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah.)
God's Love Means More than Life
1 (A) You are my God. I worship you.
In my heart, I long for you,
as I would long for a stream
in a scorching desert.
2 I have seen your power
and your glory
in the place of worship.
3 Your love means more
than life to me,
and I praise you.
4 As long as I live,
I will pray to you.
5 I will sing joyful praises
and be filled with excitement
like a guest at a banquet.
6 I think about you, God,
before I go to sleep,
and my thoughts turn to you
during the night.
7 You have helped me,
and I sing happy songs
in the shadow of your wings.
8 I stay close to you,
and your powerful arm
supports me.
9 All who want to kill me
will end up in the ground.
10 Swords will run them through,
and wild dogs will eat them.
11 Because of you, our God,
the king will celebrate
with your faithful followers,
but liars will be silent.
Judgment in Judgment Valley
9 Say to the nations:
“Get ready for war!
Be eager to fight.
Line up for battle
and prepare to attack.
10 (A) Make swords out of plows
and spears out of garden tools.
Strengthen every weakling.”
11 Hurry, all you nations!
Come quickly.
Ask the Lord to bring
his warriors along.[a]
12 You must come now
to Judgment Valley,[b]
where the Lord will judge
the surrounding nations.
13 (B) They are a field of ripe crops.
Bring in the harvest!
They are grapes piled high.
Start trampling them now![c]
If our enemy's sins were wine,
every jar would overflow.
14 Crowds fill Decision Valley.
The judgment day of the Lord
will soon be here—
15 no light from the sun or moon,
and stars no longer shine.
16 (C) From the heart of Jerusalem
the Lord roars like a lion,
shaking the earth and sky.
But the Lord is a fortress,
a place of safety
for his people Israel.
God Will Bless His People
17 I am the Lord your God.
And you will know I live on Zion,
my sacred hill,
because Jerusalem will be sacred,
untouched by foreign troops.
18 On that day, fruitful vineyards
will cover the mountains.
And your cattle and goats
that graze on the hills
will produce a lot of milk.
Streams in Judah
will never run dry;
a stream from my house
will flow in Acacia Valley.[d]
19 Egypt and Edom were cruel
and brutal to Judah,
without a reason.
Now their countries will become
a barren desert,
20 but Judah and Jerusalem
will always have people.
21 I, the Lord, live on Mount Zion.
I will punish the guilty
and defend the innocent.[e]
When the Son of Man Appears
(Mark 13.24-27; Luke 21.25-28)
29 (A) Right after those days of suffering,
“The sun will become dark,
and the moon
will no longer shine.
The stars will fall,
and the powers in the sky[a]
will be shaken.”
30 (B) Then a sign will appear in the sky. And there will be the Son of Man.[b] All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send his angels to bring his chosen ones together from all over the earth.
A Lesson from a Fig Tree
(Mark 13.28-31; Luke 21.29-33)
32 Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know summer is near. 33 So when you see all these things happening, you will know the time has almost come.[c] 34 I can promise you that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens. 35 The sky and the earth won't last forever, but my words will.
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