Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 135
Israel, Praise the Lord
Introduction
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Praise the name of the Lord.
Praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courtyards of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord,[b] for the Lord is good.
Make music to his name, for it is pleasant.
4 Yes, the Lord chose Jacob for himself.
He chose Israel as his special treasure.
The Superiority of the Lord
5 Yes, I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The Lord does whatever he pleases
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and in all the depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the end of the earth.
He sends lightning for the rainstorm.
He releases the wind from his storehouses.
8 He is the one who struck down
the firstborn of Egypt, both men and animals.
9 Egypt! He sent warning signs into your midst,
against Pharaoh and against all his officials.
10 He is the one who struck down many nations.
He killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
and Og king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as a possession,
a possession to Israel, his people.
13 Lord, your name stands forever.
Lord, your reputation remains through all generations.
14 For the Lord will judge in favor of his people.
He will have pity on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
16 They have a mouth, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear.
There is not even any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them.
So will all who trust in them.
Conclusion
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord.
House of Aaron, bless the Lord.
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord.
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21 The Lord, who dwells in Jerusalem, will be blessed from Zion.
Praise the Lord.
Four Judgments
12 The word of the Lord came to me.
13 Son of man, when a land sins against me by adding one act of infidelity to another, so that I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its bread supply,[a] to send famine against it, and to cut off man and beast from it, 14 even if these three men were in its midst—Noah, Daniel, and Job—by their righteousness they would save only their own lives, declares the Lord God.
15 If I cause wild animals to pass through the land and they rob it of its children, so that it becomes desolate, and no one can pass through because of the wild animals, 16 and if these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be devastated.
17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “A sword shall pass through the land,” and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.
19 Or if I send a plague on that land, and with bloodshed I pour out my wrath on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20 and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters. By their righteousness they would save only their own lives.
21 For this is what the Lord God says. How much worse it will be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—upon Jerusalem to cut off man and beast from it!
22 But wait! A group of survivors will be left in it, those sons and daughters who will be brought out. Look! They are coming out to you, and you shall see their ways and their actions. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem, everything that I brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, because you will see their ways and their actions. Then you will know that it was not without cause that I did everything that I did against the city, declares the Lord God.
The Faith of a Gentile Woman
24 Jesus got up and went from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not remain hidden. 25 Instead, when a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him, she immediately came and fell down at his feet. 26 This woman was a Greek, of Syro-Phoenician origin. She asked him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to their little dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she answered, “their little dogs under the table also eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he said to her, “Because of this statement, go! The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
30 She went home, found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.