Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

79 O God, ^(B)the nations have come into your ^(C)inheritance;
    they have defiled your ^(D)holy temple;
    they have ^(E)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
² They have given ^(F)the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your ^(G)faithful to ^(H)the beasts of the earth.
³ They have poured out their blood like water
    all round Jerusalem,
    and there was ^(I)no one to bury them.
⁴ We have become ^(J)a taunt to our neighbours,
    ^(K)mocked and derided by those around us.
^5 (L)How long, O Lord? Will you be angry ^(M)for ever?
    Will your ^(N)jealousy ^(O)burn like fire?
^6 (P)Pour out your anger on the nations
    that ^(Q)do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that ^(R)do not call upon your name!
⁷ For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.
^8 (S)Do not remember against us ^(T)our former iniquities;^[a]
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are ^(U)brought very low.
^9 (V)Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and ^(W)atone for our sins,
    for your ^(X)name's sake!
^10 (Y)Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let ^(Z)the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!
¹¹ Let ^(AA)the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those ^(AB)doomed to die!
¹² Return ^(AC)sevenfold into the ^(AD)lap of our neighbours
    the ^(AE)taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³ But we your people, the ^(AF)sheep of your pasture,
    will ^(AG)give thanks to you for ever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

^6 (A)In that day, declares the Lord,
    ^(B)I will assemble the ^(C)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
⁷ and the lame I will make ^(D)the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and ^(E)the Lord will reign over them ^(F)in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and for evermore.
⁸ And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
⁹ Now why do you cry aloud?
    ^(G)Is there no king in you?
^(H)Has your counsellor perished,
    that ^(I)pain seized you like a woman in labour?
^10 (J)Writhe and groan,^[a] O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labour,
for ^(K)now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you ^(L)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    ^(M)there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.
¹¹ Now ^(N)many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and ^(O)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
¹² But ^(P)they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that ^(Q)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and ^(R)shall devote^{[b] (S)}their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to ^(T)the Lord of the whole earth.

^(C)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become ^(D)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^(E)for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt ^(F)for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
³ For all nations have drunk^{[a]
    (G)}the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^(H)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and ^(I)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

^(J)“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for ^(K)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and ^(L)God has remembered her iniquities.
^6 (M)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her ^(N)double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her ^(O)in the cup she mixed.
^7 (P)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
    ^(Q)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
⁸ For this reason her plagues will come ^(R)in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
and ^(S)she will be burned up with fire;
    for ^(T)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

“Alas! Alas! ^(Y)You great city,
    you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^(Z)in a single hour your judgement has come.”