Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(A special psalm by David.)
The Joy of Forgiveness
1 (A) Our Lord, you bless everyone
whose sins you forgive
and wipe away.
2 You bless them by saying,
“You told me your sins,
without trying to hide them,
and now I forgive you.”
3 Before I confessed my sins,
my bones felt limp,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Night and day your hand
weighed heavily on me,
and my strength was gone
as in the summer heat.
5 So I confessed my sins
and told them all to you.
I said, “I'll tell the Lord
each one of my sins.”
Then you forgave me
and took away my guilt.
6 We worship you, Lord,
and we should always pray
whenever we find out
that we have sinned.[a]
Then we won't be swept away
by a raging flood.
7 You are my hiding place!
You protect me from trouble,
and you put songs in my heart
because you have saved me.
8 You said to me,
“I will point out the road
that you should follow.
I will be your teacher
and watch over you.
9 Don't be stupid
like horses and mules
that must be led with ropes
to make them obey.”
10 All kinds of troubles
will strike the wicked,
but your kindness shields those
who trust you, Lord.
11 And so your good people
should celebrate and shout.
30 The Lord told me to say:
From my sacred temple
I will roar like thunder,
while I trample my people
and everyone else
as though they were grapes.
31 My voice will be heard
everywhere on earth,
accusing nations of their crimes
and sentencing the guilty
to death.
Disaster Is Coming
32 The Lord All-Powerful says:
You can see disaster spreading
from far across the earth,
from nation to nation
like a horrible storm.
33 When it strikes, I will kill so many people that their bodies will cover the ground like manure. No one will be left to bury them or to mourn.
The Leaders of Judah Will Be Punished
34 The Lord's people are his flock,
and you leaders
were the shepherds.
But now it's your turn
to be butchered like sheep.
You'll shatter like fine pottery
dropped on the floor.[a]
So roll on the ground,
crying and mourning.
35 You have nowhere to run,
nowhere to hide.
* 36-37 Listen to the cries
of the shepherds,
as the Lord's burning anger
turns[b] peaceful meadows
into barren deserts.
38 Like a lion leaving its den,
the Lord has abandoned
his people
to the destruction of war.
Jesus in the Temple
(Matthew 21.12-17; Mark 11.15-19; John 2.13-22)
45 When Jesus entered the temple, he started chasing out the people who were selling things. 46 (A) He told them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My house should be a place of worship.’ But you have made it a place where robbers hide!”
47 (B) Each day, Jesus kept on teaching in the temple. So the chief priests, the teachers of the Law of Moses, and some other important people tried to have him killed. 48 But they could not find a way to do it, because everyone else was eager to listen to him.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.