Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 82
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God stands among the divine council;
He renders judgment among the gods.
2 “How long will you all judge unjustly
and accept partiality of the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the poor and fatherless;
vindicate the afflicted and needy.
4 Grant escape to the abused and the destitute,
pluck them out of the hand of the false.
5 “They have neither knowledge nor understanding;
they walk in darkness:
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
6 I have said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you,
7 but you all shall die like men,
and fall like a man, O princes.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for You shall inherit all nations.
The Ark Returned to Israel
6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.”
3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. But return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”
4 Then said they, “What will be the guilt offering which we will return to Him?”
They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5 Therefore you will make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land. And you will give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps He will lighten His hand from off you, even from off your gods and from off your land. 6 Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He dealt severely with them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7 “Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milk cows on which there has never been a yoke. Then tie the cows to the cart and bring their calves home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart. And put the images of gold, which you return to Him for a guilt offering, in a box by the side. And send it away, that it may go. 9 See, if it goes up by the way of His own territory to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it is not His hand that struck us; it was by chance that it happened to us.”
10 The men did so. And they took two milk cows, tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, as well as the box with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. 12 Then the cows took the straight way to the way of Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went. They did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left with the lords of the Philistines walking after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now Beth Shemesh was reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua, the Beth Shemite, and stood there where there was a great stone. And they split the wood of the cart, and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was with it, where the articles of gold were, and put them on the great stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord. 16 When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
The Great Tribulation(A)
15 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’[a] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. 19 Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then will be great tribulation, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
22 “Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Listen, I have told you beforehand.
26 “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert,’ do not go there; or, ‘Look, He is in the private chambers,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.