Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 72[a]
A Prayer for the King
1 Of Solomon.
I
2 O God, give your judgment to the king;
your justice to the king’s son;[b](A)
That he may govern your people with justice,
your oppressed with right judgment,(B)
3 That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people,
and the hills great abundance,(C)
4 That he may defend the oppressed among the people,
save the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
II
5 May they fear you with the sun,
and before the moon, through all generations.(D)
6 May he be like rain coming down upon the fields,
like showers watering the earth,(E)
7 That abundance may flourish in his days,
great bounty, till the moon be no more.
III
8 [c]May he rule from sea to sea,
from the river to the ends of the earth.(F)
9 May his foes kneel before him,
his enemies lick the dust.(G)
10 May the kings of Tarshish and the islands[d] bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.(H)
11 May all kings bow before him,
all nations serve him.(I)
12 For he rescues the poor when they cry out,
the oppressed who have no one to help.
13 He shows pity to the needy and the poor(J)
and saves the lives of the poor.
14 From extortion and violence he redeems them,
for precious is their blood[e] in his sight.
IV
15 Long may he live, receiving gold from Sheba,
prayed for without cease, blessed day by day.
16 [f]May wheat abound in the land,
flourish even on the mountain heights.
May his fruit be like that of Lebanon,
and flourish in the city like the grasses of the land.(K)
17 May his name be forever;
as long as the sun, may his name endure.(L)
May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name;[g]
may all the nations regard him as favored.(M)
18 [h]Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonderful deeds.(N)
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may he fill all the earth with his glory.(O)
Amen and amen.
20 The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.
I. Conquest of Canaan
Chapter 1
Divine Promise of Assistance. 1 After Moses, the servant of the Lord, had died, the Lord said to Moses’ aide Joshua, son of Nun: 2 [a]Moses my servant is dead. So now, you and the whole people with you, prepare to cross the Jordan to the land that I will give the Israelites. 3 (A)Every place where you set foot I have given you, as I promised Moses. 4 [b]All the land of the Hittites, from the wilderness and the Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea, will be your territory.(B) 5 No one can withstand you as long as you live. As I was with Moses, I will be with you:(C) I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. 7 (D)Only be strong and steadfast, being careful to observe the entire law which Moses my servant enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. 8 Do not let this book of the law depart from your lips. Recite it by day and by night,(E) that you may carefully observe all that is written in it; then you will attain your goal; then you will succeed. 9 I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.
32 What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,(A) 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions,(B) 34 put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders.(C) 35 Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection.(D) 36 Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment.(E) 37 They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point; they went about in skins of sheep or goats, needy, afflicted, tormented.(F) 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and on mountains, in caves and in crevices in the earth.(G)
39 Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. 40 God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect.[a]
Chapter 12
God Our Father.[b] 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us[c] and persevere in running the race that lies before us 2 while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.(H)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.