Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Book IV
Psalms 90–106
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, from the very beginning
you have been like a home to us.
2 Before you created the whole world and the mountains were made,
from the beginning to the end you are God.
3 You turn human beings back to dust.
You say to them, “Return to dust.”
4 To you a thousand years
are like a day that has just gone by.
They are like a few hours of the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away, and they die.
They are like new grass that grows in the morning.
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it’s all dried up.
7 Your anger destroys us.
Your burning anger terrifies us.
8 You have put our sins right in front of you.
You have placed our secret sins where you can see them clearly.
9 You have been angry with us all of our days.
We groan as we come to the end of our lives.
10 We live to be about 70.
Or we may live to be 80, if we stay healthy.
But even our best days are filled with trouble and sorrow.
The years quickly pass, and we are gone.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
It’s as great as the respect we should have for you.
12 Teach us to realize how short our lives are.
Then our hearts will become wise.
10 “ ‘The day for me to punish you is here! It is here! Death has arrived. The time is ripe for you to be judged. Your pride has grown so much that you will be destroyed. 11 Your mean and harmful acts have become like a rod. I will use it to punish those who do evil. None of them will be left. None of their wealth or anything of value will remain.
12 “ ‘The time has come! The day has arrived! I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd of you. Do not let the buyer be happy. Do not let the seller be sad. 13 The seller will not get back the land that was sold. That will be true as long as both the buyer and seller are alive.
“ ‘Ezekiel, the vision I gave you about that whole crowd will come true. They have committed many sins. So not one of them will be able to save their life. 14 They have blown trumpets. They have made everything ready. But no one will go into battle. I will soon pour out my great anger on the whole crowd.
15 “ ‘There is trouble everywhere. War is outside the city. Plague and hunger are inside it. Those out in the country will die in battle. Those in the city will be destroyed by hunger and plague. 16 All those who escape and are left alive will run to the mountains. They will sound like doves of the valley when they cry over their sins.
17 “ ‘Their hands will be powerless to help them. They will wet themselves. 18 They will put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. They will put on terror as if it were their clothes. Every face will be covered with shame. Every head will be shaved.
19 “ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets. They will treat their gold like an “unclean” thing. Their silver and gold won’t be able to save them on the day I pour out my anger. It will not be able to satisfy their hunger. Their stomachs can’t be filled with it. Their silver and gold have tripped them up. It has made them fall into sin. 20 My people were so proud of their beautiful jewelry. They used it to make statues of their evil gods. I hate those gods. So I will turn their jewelry into an “unclean” thing for them.
21 “ ‘I will hand over their wealth to outsiders. I will turn it over to sinful people in other countries. They will make it “unclean.” 22 I will turn my face away from my people. Robbers will make “unclean” the temple I love. They will enter it and make it “unclean.”
23 “ ‘Ezekiel, get ready to put my people in chains. The land is full of murderers. They are harming one another all over Jerusalem. 24 I will bring the most evil nations against them. They will take over the houses in the city. I will put an end to the pride of those who are mighty. Their holy places will be made “unclean.”
25 “ ‘When terror comes, they will look for peace. But there will not be any. 26 Trouble after trouble will come. One report will follow another. But they will not be true. The people will go searching for a vision from the prophets. But there will not be any. The teaching of the law by the priests will be gone. Advice from the elders will come to an end.
27 “ ‘The king will be filled with sadness. The princes will lose all hope. The hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will punish them based on how they have lived. I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
43 “What happens when an evil spirit comes out of a person? It goes through dry areas looking for a place to rest. But it doesn’t find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives there, it finds the house empty. The house has been swept clean and put in order. 45 Then the evil spirit goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there. That person is worse off than before. That is how it will be with the evil people of today.”
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