Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
80 O Shepherd of Israel who leads Israel like a flock; O God enthroned above the Guardian Angels, bend down your ear and listen as I plead. Display your power and radiant glory. 2 Let Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh see you rouse yourself and use your mighty power to rescue us.
3 Turn us again to yourself, O God. Look down on us in joy and love;[a] only then shall we be saved.
4 O Jehovah, God of heaven’s armies, how long will you be angry and reject our prayers? 5 You have fed us with sorrow and tears 6 and have made us the scorn of the neighboring nations. They laugh among themselves.
7 Turn us again to yourself, O God of Hosts. Look down on us in joy and love;[b] only then shall we be saved.
17 Strengthen the man you love,[a] the son of your choice, 18 and we will never forsake you again. Revive us to trust in you.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O God of the armies of heaven. Look down on us, your face aglow with joy and love—only then shall we be saved.
13 “At that time a Fountain will be opened to the people of Israel and Jerusalem, a Fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and defilement.”
2 And the Lord Almighty declares, “In that day I will get rid of every vestige of idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. All false prophets and fortune-tellers will be wiped out, 3 and if anyone begins false prophecy again, his own father and mother will slay him! ‘You must die,’ they will tell him, ‘for you are prophesying lies in the name of the Lord.’
4 “No one will be boasting then of his prophetic gift! No one will wear prophet’s clothes to try to fool the people then.
5 “‘No,’ he will say. ‘I am not a prophet; I am a farmer. The soil has been my livelihood from my earliest youth.’
6 “And if someone asks, ‘Then what are these scars on your chest and your back?’[a] he will say, ‘I got into a brawl at the home of a friend!’
7 “Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, the man who is my associate and equal,” says the Lord Almighty. “Strike down the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter, but I will come back and comfort and care for the lambs. 8 Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[b] but a third will be left in the land. 9 I will bring the third that remain through the fire and make them pure, as gold and silver are refined and purified by fire. They will call upon my name and I will hear them; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
6 And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
7 “Fear God,” he shouted, “and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources.”
8 Then another angel followed him through the skies, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen—that great city—because she seduced the nations of the world and made them share the wine of her intense impurity and sin.”
9 Then a third angel followed them shouting, “Anyone worshiping the Creature from the sea[a] and his statue, and accepting his mark on the forehead or the hand 10 must drink the wine of the anger of God; it is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torture rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the Creature and his statue, and have been tattooed with the code of his name. 12 Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus.”
13 And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, “Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs[b] to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.