Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 20

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high [and defend you];

² Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion;

³ Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.

⁵ We will [shout in] triumph at your salvation and victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

⁹ O Lord, give victory; let the King answer us when we call.

² O Lord, I have heard the report of You and was afraid. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make [Yourself] known! In wrath [earnestly] remember love, pity, and mercy.

³ God [approaching from Sinai] came from Teman [which represents Edom] and the Holy One from Mount Paran [in the Sinai region]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise.

⁴ And His brightness was like the sunlight; rays streamed from His hand, and there [in the sunlike splendor] was the hiding place of His power.

⁵ Before Him went the pestilence [as in Egypt], and burning plague followed His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].^(A)

⁶ He stood and measured the earth; He looked and shook the nations, and the eternal mountains were scattered and the perpetual hills bowed low. His ways are everlasting and His goings are of old.

⁷ I [Habakkuk, in vision] saw the tents of Cushan [probably Ethiopia] in affliction; the [tent] curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

⁸ Were You displeased with the rivers, O Lord? Or was Your anger against the rivers [You divided]? Was Your wrath against the [Red] Sea, that You rode [before] upon Your horses and Your chariots of victory and deliverance?

⁹ Your bow was made quite bare; sworn to the tribes [of Israel] by Your sure word were the rods of chastisement, scourges, and calamities. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! With rivers You cleaved the earth [bringing forth waters in dry places].^(B)

¹⁰ The mountains saw You; they trembled and writhed [as if in pain]. The overflowing of the water passed by [as at the deluge]; the deep uttered its voice and lifted its hands on high.

¹¹ The sun and moon stood back [as before Joshua] in their habitation at the light of Your arrows as they sped, at the flash of Your glittering spear.^(C)

¹² You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled and threshed the nations in anger.

¹³ You went forth and have come for the salvation of Your people, for the deliverance and victory of Your anointed [people Israel]; You smote the head of the house of the wicked, laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁴ You pierced with his own arrows the head of [the enemy’s] hordes; they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me [the people], rejoicing as if to devour the poor [Israel] secretly.

¹⁵ You have trodden the sea with Your horses, [beside] the heap of great and surging waters.^(D)

³¹ Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled.^(A)

³² For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon.^(B)

³³ They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again.^(C)

³⁴ But they understood nothing of these things; His words were a mystery and hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was telling them.