Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
28 To you, O Lord, I call;
(A)my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you (B)be silent to me,
I become like those who (C)go down to the pit.
2 (D)Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I (E)lift up my hands
(F)toward your most holy sanctuary.[a]
3 Do not (G)drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
(H)who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 (I)Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
(J)render them their due reward.
5 Because they (K)do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
4 Thus said the Lord my God: (A)“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 (B)Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, (C)I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For (D)I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”
7 (E)So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named (F)Favor, the other I named (G)Union. (H)And I tended the sheep. 8 In one month (I)I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. (J)What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” 10 And I took (K)my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages (L)thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—(M)the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the (N)thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14 Then I broke (O)my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of (P)a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd (Q)who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but (R)devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.
Rejoicing in Heaven
19 After this I heard (A)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
(B)Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for (C)his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged (D)the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and (E)has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!
(F)The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 And (G)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what seemed to be (J)the voice of a great multitude, like (K)the roar of many waters and (L)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty (M)reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for (N)the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and (O)his Bride has made herself ready;
8 (P)it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is (Q)the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said[a] to me, “Write this: (R)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, (S)“These are the true words of God.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.