Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 13

For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.

The Deliverance of Judah

12 The oracle of the word of the Lord against Israel.

Thus says the Lord, the One who stretches out the heavens and establishes the earth and forms the spirit of man within him: ² I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling before all the surrounding nations. And when there is a siege against Judah, it is also against Jerusalem. ³ And it will be on that day that I will set Jerusalem as a weighty stone to all the peoples. All who carry it will surely gash themselves, and all the nations of the land will be gathered against it. ⁴ On that day I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness, but for the house of Judah I will keep My eyes open although I will strike with blindness every horse of the peoples. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, “There is strength for us with those residing in Jerusalem by the Lord of Hosts, their God.”

⁶ On that day I will set Judah like a fiery pot among wood and as a flaming torch among cut grain. And they will devour to the right and left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem will still reside in her place, the place of Jerusalem.

⁷ The Lord will deliver the tents of Judah as before, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of those dwelling in Jerusalem will not eclipse Judah. ⁸ On that day the Lord will defend those residing in Jerusalem; and even the one who stumbles among them will be as David on that day. And the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going out before them. ⁹ On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who come out against Jerusalem.

Mourning for Him Whom They Have Pierced

¹⁰ And I will pour out on the house of David and over those dwelling in Jerusalem a spirit of favor and supplication so that they look to Me, whom they have pierced through. And they will mourn over him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as a firstborn. ¹¹ On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as that of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn with each family by itself: the family of the house of David by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by themselves, and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by themselves, and their wives also by themselves; ¹⁴ and all the families that remain, each by itself and their wives by themselves.

The Cleansing of God’s People

13 On that day there will be a spring opened up for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and impurity.

⁹ “But take heed. For they will hand you over to councils, and in the synagogues you will be beaten. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ But when they arrest you and hand you over, take no thought beforehand, or premeditate what you should speak. But speak whatever is given you in that time, for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Now a brother will betray his brother to death, and the father the son; children will rise up against their parents, and will cause them to be put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all men for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

The Great Tribulation^(A)

¹⁴ “When you see the ‘abomination of desolation’^[a] spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let him who is on the housetop not go down or enter the house to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶ Let him who is in the field not turn back to take his garment. ¹⁷ But woe to women who are pregnant and to those who nurse in those days! ¹⁸ Pray that your escape may not be in winter. ¹⁹ For in those days there will be distress as has not been from the beginning of the creation which God created to this time, nor ever shall be.

²⁰ “Except the Lord shortened the days, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹ Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there He is!’ do not believe it. ²² For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²³ But take heed. I have told you all things beforehand.