Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Sorrows of the exiles in Babylon.
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
3 For there they that led us captive required of us [a]songs,
And [b]they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing Jehovah’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her skill.
6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem;
Who said, Rase it, rase it,
Even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, [c]that art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee
As thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
Against the rock.
13 What shall I [a]testify unto thee? what shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion?
For thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?
14 Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions;
And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity,
But have seen for thee false [b]oracles and [c]causes of banishment.
15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee;
They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
16 All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee;
They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up;
Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
17 Jehovah hath done that which he purposed; he hath [d]fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old;
He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied:
And he hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; he hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries.
18 Their heart cried unto the Lord:
O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give thyself no respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches;
Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord:
Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
20 See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus!
Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands?
Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword:
Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast slaughtered, and not pitied.
22 Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side;
And there was none that escaped or remained in the day of Jehovah’s anger:
Those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.
5 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. 5 And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
13 These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. 14 And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: 15 and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. 16 If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, [a]he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is [b]a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is [c]a sin not unto death.
18 We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth [d]himself, and the evil one toucheth him not. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21 My little children, guard yourselves from idols.
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