Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 74[a]
Prayer at the Destruction of the Temple
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Why, God, have you cast us off forever?[b](A)
Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your people, whom you acquired of old,
the tribe you redeemed as your own heritage,
Mount Zion where you dwell.(C)
3 Direct your steps toward the utter destruction,
everything the enemy laid waste in the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared triumphantly in the place of your assembly;
they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 They hacked away like a forester gathering boughs,
swinging his ax in a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all its engraved work,
struck it with ax and pick.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire,
profaned your name’s abode by razing it to the ground.(D)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all!
Burn all the assembly-places of God in the land!”
9 [c]Even so we have seen no signs for us,
there is no prophet any more,(E)
no one among us who knows for how long.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy jeer?(F)
Will the enemy revile your name forever?
11 Why draw back your hand,
why hold back your right hand within your bosom?[d]
II
12 [e]Yet you, God, are my king from of old,
winning victories throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea by your might;(G)
you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.(H)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan,(I)
gave him as food to the sharks.
15 You opened up springs and torrents,
brought dry land out of the primeval waters.[f]
16 Yours the day and yours the night too;
you set the moon and sun in place.
17 You fixed all the limits of the earth;
summer and winter you made.(J)
18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, Lord,
how a foolish people has reviled your name.
19 Do not surrender to wild animals those who praise you;
do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Look to your covenant,
for the recesses of the land
are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the oppressed turn back in shame;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, defend your cause;
remember the constant jeering of the fools.
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the unceasing uproar of your enemies.
16 Lord, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your discipline.(A)
17 As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pain,
so were we before you, Lord.(B)
18 We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth only to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
no inhabitants for the world were born.(C)
19 [a]But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise!
Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and you cause the land of shades to give birth.(D)
The Lord’s Response[b]
20 Go, my people, enter your chambers,
and close the doors behind you;
Hide yourselves for a brief moment,
until the wrath is past.(E)
21 See, the Lord goes forth from his place,
to punish the wickedness of the earth’s inhabitants;
The earth will reveal the blood shed upon it,
and no longer conceal the slain.(F)
Chapter 27
The Judgment and Deliverance of Israel
14 He was driving out a demon [that was] mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke and the crowds were amazed. 15 Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”(A) 16 Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.(B) 17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. 18 And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. 19 If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people[a] drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that [I] drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.(C) 21 When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. 22 But when one stronger[b] than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.(D)
The Return of the Unclean Spirit.(E) 24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ 25 But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.”(F)
True Blessedness.[c] 27 While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”(G) 28 He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
The Demand for a Sign.[d]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.