Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer
A psalm of David.[a]
28 To you, O Yahweh, I call.
O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
Or else, if you are silent to me,
then I will become like those descending to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy inner sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked
or with the workers of evil,
who speak of peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their heart.
4 Give to them according to their work,
even according to the evil of their deeds.
Give to them according to the work of their hands;
repay them their rightful due.
5 Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh,
nor the work of his hands,
he will destroy them
and not rebuild them.
6 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield.
My heart trusts him and I am helped.
So my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will give thanks to him.
8 Yahweh is their strength,
and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
9 Save your people
and bless your heritage.
Shepherd them also and carry them always.
The Two Shepherds
4 Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flock[a] doomed to slaughter. 5 The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” declares[b] Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”
7 And I shepherded the flock[c] doomed to slaughter, even[d] the afflicted[e] of the flock.[f] I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.[g] 8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for I grew impatient[h] with them, and they also became tired of me.[i] 9 So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour the flesh of each other.”[j] 10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I had made[k] with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted[l] of the flock,[m] the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 And I said to them, “If it seems right to you,[n] give me my wages, but if not, keep them.”[o] And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels. 13 And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”[p] this noble price[q] at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potter[r] in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements[s] of a foolish shepherd. 16 For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,[t] he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the fattened ones[u] and tear apart even their hoofs.
Rejoicing in Heaven
19 After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 because his judgments are true and righteous,
because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,
and has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by[a] her hand!”
3 And a second time they said,
“Hallelujah!”
And her smoke goes up forever and ever[b]. 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,
“Amen! Hallelujah!”
5 And a voice came out from the throne, saying,
“Praise our God
all his slaves,
and those who fear him,
the small and the great!”
The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb
6 And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord God,[c] the All-Powerful, reigns!
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him the glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.
8 And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).
9 And he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
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