Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book 4: Psalms 90–106
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our ·home [dwelling place; Deut. 33:27]
·since the beginning [L from all generations].
2 Before the mountains were born
and before you ·created [brought forth] the earth and the world,
you are God [Prov. 8:22–31].
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into ·dust [L what is crushed; Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Eccl. 12:7].
You say, “·Go back into dust [L Return; Turn back], human beings.”
4 ·To you [L In your eyes], a thousand years
is like the passing of a day [2 Pet. 3:8],
or ·like a few hours [L a watch; C the night was divided into four watches of three hours each] in the night.
5 While people sleep, you ·take [put an end to] their lives.
They are like grass that ·grows up [is new] in the morning.
6 In the morning they ·are fresh and new [blossom and are renewed],
but by evening they ·dry up [fade] and ·die [wither].
7 We are ·destroyed [annihilated] by your anger;
we are terrified by your hot anger.
8 You have ·put [set] ·the evil we have done [our guilt/iniquity] right in front of you;
·you clearly see our secret sins [L our hidden/secret sins in the light of your face].
9 All our days pass while you are angry.
Our years end with a ·moan [sigh].
10 ·Our lifetime is [L The days of our years are] seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
But ·the years are full of [L their pride are] ·hard work [toil] and ·pain [trouble; Eccl. 1:2].
They pass quickly, and then we ·are gone [L fly away].
11 Who knows the ·full power [strength] of your anger?
Your anger is as great as our fear of you should be.
12 ·Teach us [Make us know] ·how short our lives really are [L to count our days]
so that we ·may be wise [L gain a wise heart].
Ezekiel Tells of the End
7 Again the ·Lord spoke his word to me [L word of the Lord came], saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], the Lord God says this to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end has come for you, and I will send my anger against you. I will judge you for the way you have lived, and I will ·make you pay [punish you; or hold you accountable; L place upon you] for all your ·actions that I hate [detestable/abominable practices]. 4 ·I will have no pity on [L My eye will not pity] you; I will not ·hold back punishment from [spare] you. Instead, I will make you pay for the way you have lived and for your ·actions that I hate [detestable/abominable practices]. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 “This is what the Lord God says: Disaster ·on top of [or unheard of] disaster ·is [L look/T behold, it is] coming. 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has ·stirred itself up [aroused; awakened] against you! Look! It ·has come [or is coming]! 7 ·Disaster [Doom] has come for you who live in the land! The time has come; the day of is near. It will be a day of ·confusion [panic], not ·celebration [shouts of joy], on the mountains. 8 Soon I will pour out my ·anger [wrath] against you; I will ·carry out [spend; exhaust] my anger against you. I will judge you for the way you have lived and will ·make you pay [punish you; or hold you accountable] for ·everything you have done that I hate [your detestable/abominable practices]. 9 ·I will show no pity [L My eye will not pity you], and I will not ·hold back punishment [spare you]. I will ·pay you back [punish you; or hold you accountable] for ·the way you have lived and the things you have done that I hate [your detestable/abominable practices]. Then you will know that I am the Lord who ·punishes [strikes you].
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and ·he [or it; C either the sun or the angel] was given ·power [authority] to ·burn [scorch] the people with fire. 9 They were ·burned [scorched] by the great heat, and they ·cursed [blasphemed] the name of God, who had ·control [authority; power] over these ·disasters [plagues]. But the people ·refused to change their hearts and lives [L did not repent] and give ·glory [honor] to God.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and darkness covered its kingdom [8:12; C reminiscent of the ninth Egyptian plague; Ex. 10:21–29]. People ·gnawed [bit] their tongues because of the ·pain [agony]. 11 They also cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and the sores they had, but they refused to ·change their hearts and turn away [repent] from ·the evil things they did [L their deeds].
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates so that the water in the river was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come [C reminiscent of the splitting of the Red Sea and the Jordan; Ex. 14:21–22; Josh. 3:13–17]. 13 Then I saw three ·evil [L unclean] spirits that looked like frogs [C reminiscent of the second Egyptian plague; Ex. 8:1–15] coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 [L For] These evil spirits are the spirits of demons, ·which have power to do miracles [L that perform signs]. They go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the battle on the great day of God ·Almighty [All-powerful].
15 “Listen [L Look; T Behold]! I will come as a thief comes [C that is, without warning]! ·Blessed [Happy] are those who stay ·awake [alert] and keep their clothes on [C a metaphor for staying faithful and pure] so that they will not walk around naked and have people see their shame.”
16 Then ·the evil spirits [L they] gathered the kings together to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language [C meaning “Mountain of Megiddo,” a strategic pass in northern Israel].
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Then a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It ·is finished [is done; has come to pass]!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, ·noises, thunder [rumbling thunder], and a ·big [great] earthquake [4:5; 11:19]—the ·worst [greatest; most violent] earthquake that has ever happened since people have been on earth. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations ·were destroyed [fell; collapsed]. And God remembered ·the sins of Babylon [L Babylon] the Great, so he gave that city the cup filled with the wine of ·his terrible anger [L the anger/fury of his wrath; 14:8]. 20 Then every island ·ran away [fled], and mountains ·disappeared [L were not to be found]. 21 Giant hailstones, each weighing about ·a hundred pounds [L a talent], fell from the sky upon people [C reminiscent of the seventh Egyptian plague; 11:19; Ex. 9:13–35]. People ·cursed [blasphemed] God for the ·disaster [plague] of the hail, because this ·disaster [plague] was so terrible.
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