Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
The prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 My Lord, you have been our home forever and ever.
2 You were God before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world were made.
You have always been and will always be God!
3 You bring people into this world,
and you change them into dust again.
4 To you, a thousand years is like yesterday,
like a few hours in the night.
5 Our life is like a dream that ends when morning comes.
We are like grass
6 that grows and looks so fresh in the morning,
but in the evening it is dry and dying.
7 Your anger could destroy us.
Your anger frightens us!
8 You know about all our sins.
You see every one of our secret sins.
9 Your anger can end our life.
Our lives fade away like a whisper.
10 We live about 70 years
or, if we are strong, 80 years.
But most of them are filled with hard work and pain.
Then, suddenly, the years are gone, and we fly away.
11 No one really knows the full power of your anger,
but our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger.
12 Teach us how short our lives are
so that we can become wise.
Disaster Is Coming to Jerusalem
7 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 2 He said, “Now, son of man, here is a message from the Lord God. This message is for the land of Israel:
“The end!
The end is coming.
The whole country will be destroyed.
3 Your end is coming now!
I will show how angry I am with you.
I will punish you for the evil things you did.
I will make you pay for all the terrible things you did.
4 I will not show you any mercy or feel sorry for you.
I am punishing you for the evil things you did.
You have done such terrible things.
Now, you will know that I am the Lord.”
5 This is what the Lord God said: “There will be one disaster after another! 6 The end is coming, and it will come quickly! 7 You people living in Israel, disaster is coming. It is time for punishment. Those are not shouts of joy in the mountains. Those are cries of panic. 8 Very soon now, I will show you how angry I am. I will show all of my anger against you. I will punish you for the evil things you did. I will make you pay for all the terrible things you did. 9 I will not show you any mercy or feel sorry for you. I am punishing you for the evil things you did. You have done such terrible things. Now, you will know that I am the Lord.
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. The sun was given power to burn the people with fire. 9 The people were burned by the great heat. They cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues. But they refused to change their hearts and lives and give glory to God.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. And darkness covered the beast’s kingdom. People bit their tongues because of the pain. 11 They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and the sores they had. But they refused to change their hearts and turn away from the evil things they did.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. The water in the river was dried up. This prepared the way for the rulers from the east to come. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs. They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits are the spirits of demons. They have power to do miracles.[a] They go out to the rulers of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God All-Powerful.
15 “Listen! I will come at a time you don’t expect, like a thief. Great blessings belong to those who stay awake and keep their clothes with them. They will not have to go without clothes and be ashamed for people to see them.”
16 Then the evil spirits gathered the rulers together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Then a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne. It said, “It is finished!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, and a big earthquake. This was the worst earthquake that has ever happened since people have been on earth. 19 The great city split into three parts. The cities of the nations were destroyed. And God did not forget to punish Babylon the Great. He gave that city the cup filled with the wine of his terrible anger. 20 Every island disappeared and there were no more mountains. 21 Giant hailstones fell on the people from the sky. These hailstones weighed almost 100 pounds[b] each. People cursed God because of this plague of the hail. It was terrible.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International