Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
63 A psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.
O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! 2 How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory, 3 for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise you! 4 I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.
6 I lie awake at night thinking of you— 7 of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings. 8 I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right arm. 9 But those plotting to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell. 10 They are doomed to die by the sword, to become the food of jackals. 11 But I[a] will rejoice in God. All who trust in him exult, while liars shall be silenced.
9 Announce this far and wide: Get ready for war! Conscript your best soldiers; collect all your armies. 10 Melt your plowshares into swords, and beat your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak be strong. 11 Gather together and come, all nations everywhere. And now, O Lord, bring down your warriors!
12 “Collect the nations; bring them to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to pronounce judgment on them all. 13 Now let the sickle do its work; the harvest is ripe and waiting. Tread the winepress, for it is full to overflowing with the wickedness of these men.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes waiting in the valley for the verdict of their doom! For the Day of the Lord is near, in the Valley of Judgment. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened and the stars withdraw their light. 16 The Lord shouts from his Temple in Jerusalem, and the earth and sky begin to shake. But to his people Israel, the Lord will be very gentle. He is their Refuge and Strength.
17 “Then you shall know at last that I am the Lord your God in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem shall be mine forever; the time will come when no foreign armies will pass through her anymore.
18 “Sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and the hills shall flow with milk. Water will fill the dry streambeds of Judah, and a fountain will burst forth from the Temple of the Lord to water Acacia Valley. 19 Egypt will be destroyed, and Edom, too, because of their violence against the Jews, for they killed innocent people in those nations.
20 “But Israel will prosper forever, and Jerusalem will thrive as generations pass. 21 For I will avenge the blood of my people; I will not clear their oppressors of guilt. For my home is in Jerusalem with my people.”
29 “Immediately after the persecution of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give light, and the stars will seem to fall from the heavens,[a] and the powers overshadowing the earth will be convulsed.
30 “And then at last the signal of my coming[b] will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning all around the earth. And the nations of the world will see me arrive in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And I shall send forth my angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they shall gather my chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.[c]
32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When her branch is tender and the leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is almost here. 33 Just so, when you see all these things beginning to happen, you can know that my return is near,[d] even at the doors. 34 Then at last this age will come to its close.[e]
35 “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.