Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 70[a]
Insistent Prayer for Divine Assistance
1 For the director.[b] Of David. For remembrance.
2 [c]Make haste, O God, to rescue me;
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
3 [d]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
4 May those who cry out to me, “Aha! Aha!”[e]
be forced to retreat in shame.
5 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “May God be magnified.”[f]
6 As for me, I am poor and needy;[g]
hasten to my aid, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
You Have Not Come to Me
6 Although I made your teeth
clean of food in all your cities
and spread famine in all your villages,
you still would not return to me, says the Lord.
7 I even withheld the rain from you
when there were still three months before the harvest.
I would allow rain to fall upon one town
but not upon another.
One field would be watered by rain,
while another would receive none and dry up.
8 People from two or three towns
would stagger to a neighboring town to drink water,
yet their thirst remained unquenched.
Yet even then you would not return to me,
says the Lord.
9 I struck you with mildew and blight,
I laid waste your gardens and vineyards;
the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees,
but still you would not return to me,
says the Lord.
10 I sent among you a plague like that of Egypt,
and I slaughtered your young men with the sword.
I allowed your horses to be captured;
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps.
And still you would not return to me,
says the Lord.
11 I brought destruction among you
like that which devastated Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a brand snatched from the fire,
and still you would not come back to me,
says the Lord.
12 Therefore, O Israel,
this is what I plan to do with you.
And because I intend to do this,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Homage to the Lord
13 He is the one who formed the mountains
and created the wind,
and who reveals to men his thoughts,
who changes the dawn into darkness
and strides upon the heights of the earth:
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name.
Instructions for the Coming of the Kingdom[a]
Chapter 24
The Time of the End[b]
Jesus Announces the Destruction of the Temple.[c] 1 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the buildings of the temple. 2 He thereupon said to them, “Do you see all these? Amen, I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another; every one will be thrown down.”
The End Has Not Yet Come.[d] 3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached and spoke to him when they were alone. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered them, “Take care that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do not be alarmed, for those things are bound to happen, but the end is still to come. 7 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are only the beginning of the labor pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be tortured and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 At that time, many will fall away from the faith; they will betray and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will appear and lead many astray, 12 and with the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But whoever endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the entire world as a testimony offered to all the nations. And then the end will come.
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