Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord
A Song of (A)Ascents.
126 When the Lord (B)restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who (C)dream.
2 Then our (D)mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
(E)“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 (F)Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Lying Prophets
9 Concerning the prophets:
(A)My heart is broken within me;
(B)all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 (C)For the land is full of adulterers;
(D)because of the curse (E)the land mourns,
and (F)the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
(G)Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 (H)“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even (I)in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 (J)Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths (K)in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
(L)in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of (M)Samaria
(N)I saw an unsavory thing:
(O)they prophesied by Baal
(P)and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
(Q)they commit adultery and walk in lies;
(R)they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
(S)all of them have become like Sodom to me,
(T)and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
(U)“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
(V)and give them (W)poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
7 For this (A)Melchizedek, king of (B)Salem, priest of (C)the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother (D)or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham (E)the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And (F)those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,[a] though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man (G)who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed (H)him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one (I)of whom it is testified that (J)he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.