Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Psalm of Asaph
A Prayer for Jerusalem
79 God, nations have invaded your land[a]
to desecrate your holy Temple,
to destroy Jerusalem,
2 to give the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the skies
and the flesh of your godly ones
to the beasts of the earth;
3 to make their blood flow like water around Jerusalem,
with no one being buried.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and a derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord, will you be angry? Forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath upon the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
and over the kingdoms
that do not call on your name.
7 For they consumed Jacob,
making his dwelling place desolate.
8 Don’t charge[b] us for previous iniquity,
but let your compassion come quickly to us,
for we have been brought very low.
9 Help us, God, our deliverer,
on account of your glorious name,
deliver us and forgive[c] our sins
on account of your name.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let vengeance for the blood of your servants be meted[d] out
before our eyes and among the nations.
11 Let the cries of the prisoners reach you.
With the strength of your power,
release those condemned to death.[e]
12 Pay back our neighbors seven times[f]
the reproach with which they reproached you, Lord.
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you always, from generation to generation.
We will declare your praise.
5 [a]“Now marshal yourselves as troops.[b]
He has laid siege to us.
They will strike the judge[c] of Israel on the cheek with a rod.”
The Ruler from Bethlehem
2 [d]“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
even though you remain least among the clans[e] of Judah,
nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me
will emerge from you.
His existence has been[f] from antiquity,
even from eternity.
3 Therefore that ruler[g] will abandon them
until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his countrymen will return to the Israelis.”
4 “Then he will take his stand,
shepherding by means of the strength of the Lord,
by the power[h] of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will be firmly[i] established;
indeed, from then on he will become great—
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace.”
God’s Judgment on Assyria
“When the Assyrian invades our land,
trampling through our palaces,
we will raise up seven shepherds against him,
even eight significant men.
Be Alert
34 “Constantly be on your guard so that your hearts will not be loaded down with self-indulgence, drunkenness, and the worries of this life, or that day will take you by surprise 35 like a trap, because it will come on everyone who lives on the face of the earth. 36 So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”
37 Now during the day Jesus[a] would teach in the Temple, but when evening came he would go out and spend the night on what is called the Mount of Olives. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the Temple.
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