Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Lament for Jerusalem after Its Destruction
A psalm of Asaph.[a]
79 O God, the nations have entered your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have reduced Jerusalem to ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the heavens,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was none to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
a derision and a scorn to those around us.
5 How long, O Yahweh? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name,
7 because they[b] have devoured Jacob
and have laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us former iniquities;
let your mercies meet us quickly
because we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
and deliver us and forgive[c] our sins
for the sake of your name.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let it[d] be known among the nations before our eyes,
by the avenging of the blood of your servants
that was poured out.
11 Let the groaning of the prisoner come before you.
According to the greatness of your power,[e]
spare[f] the children appointed to death.
12 And return to our neighbors sevenfold upon them[g]
their taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord.
13 Then we, your people and the flock of your pasture,
we will give thanks to you forever.
Generation after generation[h]
we will tell of your praise.
Yahweh Will Deliver Zion
6 “In that day,” declares Yahweh,[a]
“I will assemble the one who limps,
and I will gather the one who has been scattered,
and those whom I have mistreated.
7 And I will make the one who limps a remnant,
and the one driven far away a strong nation,
and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion
from now to forever.
8 And you, O Migdal-Eder,[b]
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you it will come,
and the former dominion will come,
the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 So then, why do you shout a loud shout?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished
that pangs like a woman in labor have seized you?
10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor.
For now you will go forth from the city,
and you will camp in the field;
you will go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
there Yahweh will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 And now, many nations are gathered against you
who are saying, ‘Let her be defiled,
and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.’
12 But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh,
and they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves
to his threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,
for your horn I will make as iron
and your hooves as bronze.
And you will break many peoples in pieces,
and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh,
and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”
Lament Over Babylon the Great
18 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,
and it has become a dwelling place of demons
and a haunt of every unclean spirit
and a haunt of every unclean bird
and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.
3 For all the nations have drunk[a]
from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have become rich
from the power of her sensuality.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out from her, my people,
so that you will not participate in her sins,
and so that you will not receive her plagues,
5 because her sins have reached up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,
and pay back double[b] according to her deeds;
in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
give to her so much torment and mourning,
because in her heart she said,
‘I sit as a queen, and am not a widow,
and I will never see mourning!’
8 Because of this her plagues will come in one day—
death and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!”
9 And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing far off[c] because of the fear of her torment, saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon the powerful city,
because in one hour your judgment has come!”
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