Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Nation in Trouble Prays
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you rejected us for so long?
Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people you bought long ago.
You saved us, and we are your very own.
After all, you live on Mount Zion.
3 Make your way through these old ruins;
the enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
4 Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place
and raised their flags there.
5 They came with axes raised
as if to cut down a forest of trees.
6 They smashed the carved panels
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your Temple to the ground;
they have made the place where you live unclean.
8 They thought, “We will completely crush them!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We do not see any signs.
There are no more prophets,
and no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you?
Will they insult you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your power?
Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
12 God, you have been our king for a long time.
You bring salvation to the earth.
13 You split open the sea by your power
and broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan
and gave it to the desert creatures as food.
15 You opened up the springs and streams
and made the flowing rivers run dry.
16 Both the day and the night are yours;
you made the sun and the moon.
17 You set all the limits on the earth;
you created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you.
Remember how those foolish people made fun of you.
19 Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor people.
20 Remember the agreement you made with us,
because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
21 Do not let your suffering people be disgraced.
Let the poor and helpless praise you.
22 God, arise and defend yourself.
Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
23 Don’t forget what your enemies said;
don’t forget their roar as they rise against you always.
27 At that time the Lord will punish Leviathan, the gliding snake.
He will punish Leviathan, the coiled snake,
with his great and hard and powerful sword.
He will kill the monster in the sea.
2 At that time
people will sing about the pleasant vineyard.
3 “I, the Lord, will care for that vineyard;
I will water it at the right time.
No one will hurt it,
because I will guard it day and night.
4 I am not angry.
If anyone builds a wall of thornbushes in war,
I will march to it and burn it.
5 But if anyone comes to me for safety
and wants to make peace with me,
he should come and make peace with me.”
6 In the days to come, the people of Jacob will be like a plant with good roots;
Israel will grow like a plant beginning to bloom.
Then the world will be filled with their children.
The Lord Will Send Israel Away
7 The Lord has not hurt his people as he hurt their enemies;
his people have not been killed like those who tried to kill them.
8 He will settle his argument with Israel by sending it far away.
Like a hot desert wind, he will drive it away.
9 This is how Israel’s guilt will be forgiven;
this is how its sins will be taken away:
Israel will crush the rocks of the altar to dust,
and no statues or altars will be left standing for the Asherah idols.
10 At that time the strong, walled city will be empty
like a desert.
Calves will eat grass there.
They will lie down there
and eat leaves from the branches.
11 The limbs will become dry and break off,
so women will use them for firewood.
The people refuse to understand,
so God will not comfort them;
their Maker will not be kind to them.
12 At that time the Lord will begin gathering his people one by one from the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt. He will separate them from others as grain is separated from chaff. 13 Many of my people are now lost in Assyria. Some have run away to Egypt. But at that time a great trumpet will be blown, and all those people will come and worship the Lord on that holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Jesus Goes to the Temple
45 Jesus went into the Temple and began to throw out the people who were selling things there. 46 He said, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house for prayer.’[a] But you have changed it into a ‘hideout for robbers’!”[b]
47 Jesus taught in the Temple every day. The leading priests, the experts on the law, and some of the leaders of the people wanted to kill Jesus. 48 But they did not know how they could do it, because all the people were listening closely to him.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.