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].
10 “·Look [T Behold], the day is here. ·Look [T Behold] It has come. ·Disaster [Doom] has ·come [gone out], ·violence has grown [L the rod has budded; Num. 17; C may refer to Nebuchadnezzar, the instrument of God’s judgment], ·and there is more pride than ever [L pride/arrogance has blossomed]. 11 Violence has grown into a ·weapon [rod; staff] for punishing wickedness. None of the people will be left—none of that crowd, none of their wealth, and ·nothing of value [or none of their prominent ones]. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Don’t let the buyer ·be happy [rejoice] or the seller ·be sad [grieve; mourn], because my ·burning anger [wrath] is against the whole crowd. 13 Sellers will not ·return to the land [or recover the property] they have sold as long as they live, because the vision against all that crowd will not be ·changed [revoked; reversed]. Because of their ·sins [iniquity], they will not ·save [preserve] their lives. 14 They have blown the trumpet, and everything is ready. But no one is going to the battle, because my ·anger [wrath] is against all that crowd.
15 “The sword is outside, and ·disease [pestilence; plague] and ·hunger [famine] are inside [6:12]. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. ·Hunger [Famine] and ·disease [pestilence; plague] will destroy those in the city. 16 ·Those who are left alive and [The survivors] who escape will be on the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys about their own ·sin [iniquity]. 17 All hands ·will hang weakly with fear [are weak/limp], and all knees will ·become weak as water [or be wet with urine; L run with water]. 18 They will put on ·rough cloth to show how sad they are [burlap; sackcloth]. ·They will tremble all over with fear [L Terror/Horror covers them]. Their faces will show their shame, and all their heads will be shaved. 19 The people will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like ·trash [filth; an unclean thing]. Their silver and gold will not save them from the Lord’s ·anger [wrath]. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, because it ·caused them to fall [was their stumbling block] into sin. 20 ·They were proud of their beautiful jewelry [or They used God’s ornaments for their own prideful means; C the ornaments could refer to the temple treasures] and used it to make their ·idols [abominable images] and their ·evil statues, which I hate [detestable/abominable idols]. So I will turn their wealth into ·trash [filth; an unclean thing]. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot from war and to the ·evil [or most wicked] people in the world as ·treasure [plunder], and they will ·dishonor [desecrate; defile; C ritually] it. 22 I will also turn [L my face] away from the ·people [L house] of Israel, and they will ·dishonor [desecrate; defile; C ritually] my treasured place. Then robbers will enter and ·dishonor [desecrate; defile; C ritually] it.
23 “·Make chains for captives [L Prepare/Forge the chains], because the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 So I will bring the ·worst [most evil/wicked/ruthless] of the nations to take over the people’s houses. I will also end the pride of the strong, and their ·holy places [sanctuaries] will be ·dishonored [desecrated; defiled; C ritually]. 25 ·When the people are suffering greatly [or Terror/Anguish is coming!], they will look for peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster will come on top of disaster, and rumor will be added to rumor. Then they will ·try to get [seek] a vision from a prophet; the ·teachings of God [L laws; instructions] from the priest and the ·advice [counsel] from the elders ·will be lost [perishes]. 27 The king will ·cry greatly [mourn], the prince will ·give up hope [L be clothed/wrapped in despair], and the hands of the people of land will shake with fear. I will ·punish [deal with] them for the way they have lived. The way they have judged others is the way I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
People Today Are Full of Evil(A)
43 “When an ·evil [defiling; L unclean] spirit comes out of a person, it travels through ·dry [waterless; arid] places, looking for a place to rest, but it doesn’t find it. 44 So the spirit says, ‘I will go back to the house [C the person] I left.’ When the spirit comes back, it finds the house still empty, swept clean, and ·made neat [put in order; fixed up]. 45 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits even more ·evil [wicked] than it is, and they go in and live there. So ·the person has even more trouble than before [L the last state of that person is worse than the first]. ·It is the same way [L So it will be] with ·the evil people who live today [this evil generation].”
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