Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 84[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] written by the Korahites, a psalm.
84 How lovely is the place where you live,[c]
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies![d]
2 I desperately want to be[e]
in the courts of the Lord’s temple.[f]
My heart and my entire being[g] shout for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow[h] builds a nest,
where she can protect her young[i]
near your altars, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
my King and my God.
4 How blessed[j] are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually. (Selah)
5 How blessed are those who[k] find their strength in you,
and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple.[l]
6 As they pass through the Baca Valley,[m]
he provides a spring for them.[n]
The rain[o] even covers it with pools of water.[p]
7 They are sustained as they travel along;[q]
each one appears[r] before God in Zion.
17 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies[a] told me to say to this people:[b]
“Take note of what I say.[c]
Call for the women who mourn for the dead!
Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”[d]
18 I said, “Indeed,[e] let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.
Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes
and our eyelids overflow with water.
19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion,
‘We are utterly ruined![f] We are completely disgraced!
For we have left our land,
for our houses have been torn down!’”[g]
20 I said,[h]
“So now,[i] you wailing women, listen to the Lord’s message.[j]
Open your ears to the message from his mouth.
Teach your daughters this mournful song,
and let every woman teach her neighbor this lament.
21 ‘Death has climbed in[k] through our windows.
It has entered into our fortified houses.
It has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
22 Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says:
“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere
like manure scattered on a field.
They will lie scattered on the ground
like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”[l]
23 [m] The Lord says,
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.[n]
Rich people should not boast that they are rich.[o]
24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:
They should boast that they understand and know me.
They should boast that they know and understand
that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth
and that I desire people to do these things,”[p]
says the Lord.
25 The Lord says, “Watch out![q] The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.[r] 26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples.[s] I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight.[t] Moreover, none of the people of Israel[u] are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”[v]
Continue in What You Have Learned
10 You, however,[a] have followed my teaching, my[b] way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings[c] that happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra.[d] I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all. 12 Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,[e] deceiving others and being deceived themselves.[f] 14 You, however, must continue[g] in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know[h] who taught you[i] 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
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