Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 71[a]
Prayer in Time of Old Age
I
1 In you, Lord, I take refuge;(A)
let me never be put to shame.(B)
2 In your justice rescue and deliver me;
listen to me and save me!
3 Be my rock of refuge,
my stronghold to give me safety;
for you are my rock and fortress.(C)
4 My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked,
from the clutches of the evil and violent.(D)
5 You are my hope, Lord;
my trust, God, from my youth.
6 On you I have depended since birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength;(E)
my hope in you never wavers.
Zedekiah. 11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.(A) 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, his God, and he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.(B) 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart rather than return to the Lord, the God of Israel.(C) 14 Likewise all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added treachery to treachery, practicing all the abominations of the nations and defiling the Lord’s house which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Judah. 15 Early and often the Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.(D) 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the Lord’s anger against his people blazed up beyond remedy.(E) 17 Then he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in their own sanctuary, with compassion for neither young men nor young women, neither the old nor the infirm; all of them he delivered into his power.(F) 18 All the utensils of the house of God, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s house, and the treasures of the king and his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.(G) 19 They burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burnt down all its palaces, and destroyed all its precious objects.(H) 20 Those who escaped the sword he carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the Persian kingdom came to power. 21 All this was to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah: Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.
43 The next day he[a] decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”(A) 46 But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite.[b] There is no duplicity in him.” 48 [c](B)Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God;[d] you are the King of Israel.”(C) 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?[e] You will see greater things than this.” 51 And he said to him, “Amen, amen,[f] I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”(D)
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