Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book Four
From Everlasting to Everlasting
A (A)Prayer of Moses, the (B)man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our (C)dwelling place[a]
in all generations.
2 (D)Before the (E)mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
(F)from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust
and say, (G)“Return, (H)O children of man!”[b]
4 For (I)a thousand years in your sight
are but as (J)yesterday when it is past,
or as (K)a watch in the night.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span[a] is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 (A)So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
10 (A)“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! (B)Your doom has come; (C)the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 (D)Violence has grown up into (E)a rod of wickedness. (F)None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.[a] 12 (G)The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not (H)the buyer rejoice, nor (I)the seller mourn, (J)for wrath is upon all their multitude.[b] 13 For (K)the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. (L)For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.[c]
14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, (M)for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 (N)The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. (O)He who is in the field dies by the sword, (P)and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 (Q)And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like (R)doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17 (S)All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 (T)They put on sackcloth, and (U)horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and (V)baldness on all their heads. 19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. (W)Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. (X)For it was (Y)the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 (Z)His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and (AA)they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore (AB)I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of (AC)foreigners for prey, (AD)and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and (AE)they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and (AF)they shall profane my treasured[d] place. Robbers shall enter (AG)and profane it.
23 (AH)“Forge a chain![e] (AI)For the land is full of bloody crimes (AJ)and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring (AK)the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. (AL)I will put an end to the pride of the strong, (AM)and their holy places[f] shall be profaned. 25 (AN)When anguish comes, (AO)they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 (AP)Disaster comes upon disaster; (AQ)rumor follows rumor. (AR)They seek a vision from the prophet, while (AS)the law[g] perishes from the priest and (AT)counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way (AU)I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, (AV)and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
Return of an Unclean Spirit
43 “When (A)the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through (B)waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and (C)the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this (D)evil generation.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.