Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in Your ^(D)house;
They will still be praising You. Selah

⁵ Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley ^(E)of ^[c]Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with ^[d]pools.
⁷ They go ^(F)from strength to strength;
^[e]Each one ^(G)appears before God in Zion.

“Consider and call for ^(A)the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
¹⁸ Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That ^(B)our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
¹⁹ For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are plundered!
We are greatly ashamed,
Because we have forsaken the land,
Because we have been cast out of ^(C)our dwellings.’ ”

²⁰ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
²¹ For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off ^(D)the children—^[a]no longer to be outside!
And the young men—^[b]no longer on the streets!

‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall ^(E)as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.’ ”

^(F)“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his ^(G)might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
²⁴ But ^(H)let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, ^[c]judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
^(I)For in these I delight,” says the Lord.