Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book IV—Psalms 90–106[a]
Psalm 90[b]
Prayer To Use Time Wisely
1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God.[c]
Lord, you have been our refuge
from generation to generation.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth
or the earth and the world came into existence,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, “Return,[d] you children of men.”
4 For to you a thousand years
are like a yesterday that has passed
or one of the watches of the night.[e]
5 You snatch them away like a dream;
they are like the grass of the field,[f]
6 which at dawn flourishes and is green
but by nightfall is withered and dry.
7 [g]We have been brought low by your anger
and overwhelmed with terror by your wrath.
8 You have not forgotten our iniquities;
our secret sins are clearly visible in your sight.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
our years are consumed like a sigh.
10 The span of our life numbers seventy years,
or perhaps eighty, if we have enough strength.
Most of them are marked by toil and emptiness;[a]
they pass swiftly, and then we fly away.
11 [b]Who understands the might of your anger
and rightly fears the power of your wrath?
12 Teach us to comprehend how few our days are
so that our hearts may be filled with wisdom.
Chapter 7
The End Is Near. 1 This word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel:
It is finished. The end is coming
upon the four corners of the land.
3 Now the end is upon you.
I will unleash my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct,
and punish you for all your loathsome deeds.
4 I will not look upon you with pity
or be merciful to you.
I will punish you for your evil conduct
and for your abominable practices.
Then you will know
that I am the Lord.
5 Thus says the Lord God:
Disasters are coming, one after another.
6 The end is coming; it is coming upon you.
Behold its approach!
7 Your doom is coming upon you,
O inhabitant of the land.
The time is coming, the day is near—
a time of panic and not of rejoicing.
8 Soon I will pour out my wrath upon you
and vent my anger against you.
I will judge you according to your conduct
and punish you for your abominable deeds.
9 I will not look upon you with mercy,
nor will I have pity on you.
I will repay you for your conduct
and for the abominations in your midst.
Then you will know
that it is I, the Lord, who strike.
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to burn people with its flames. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had the power to inflict those plagues, but they refused to repent and pay him homage.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.[a] People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, instead of repenting for what they had done.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 I saw three unclean spirits like frogs[b] come forth from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.
14 These are demonic spirits with the power to work miracles. They were sent to the kings of the entire world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
15 [c]“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes close by so that he will not have to go naked and be exposed to shame.” 16 These spirits then assembled the kings at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.[d]
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there followed flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake—so violent that there has never been one like it since the human race has inhabited the earth.
19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed in ruin. Babylon the Great was also remembered by God, as he made her drink the cup filled with the wine of his fury and wrath. 20 Every island vanished, and no mountains were to be found. 21 Huge hailstones, each weighing about one hundred pounds, fell from the sky on the people, and they cursed God on account of the plague of hail that turned out to be so terrible.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.