Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 135

¹ Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!

² You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God,

³ Praise the Lord! For the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for He is gracious and lovely!

⁴ For the Lord has chosen [the descendants of] Jacob for Himself, Israel for His peculiar possession and treasure.^(A)

⁵ For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods.

⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases, that has He done in the heavens and on earth, in the seas and all deeps—

⁷ Who causes the vapors to arise from the ends of the earth, Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings the wind out of His storehouses;

⁸ Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast;^(B)

⁹ Who sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and all his servants;

¹⁰ Who smote nations many and great and slew mighty kings—

¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan.

¹² [The Lord] gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to Israel His people.

¹³ Your name, O Lord, endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, throughout all ages.

¹⁴ For the Lord will judge and vindicate His people, and He will delay His judgments [manifesting His righteousness and mercy] and take into favor His servants [those who meet His terms of separation unto Him].^(C)

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

¹⁶ [Idols] have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

¹⁷ They have ears, but they hear not, nor is there any breath in their mouths.

¹⁸ Those who make [idols] are like them; so is everyone who trusts in and relies on them.^(D)

¹⁹ Bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) the Lord, O house of Israel; bless the Lord, O house of Aaron [God’s ministers].

²⁰ Bless the Lord, O house of Levi [the dedicated tribe]; you who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord, bless the Lord [affectionately and gratefully praise Him]!^(E)

²¹ Blessed out of Zion be the Lord, Who dwells [with us] at Jerusalem! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

¹² The word of the Lord came [again] to me, saying,

¹³ Son of man, when a land sins against Me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out My hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast,

¹⁴ Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would save but their own lives by their righteousness (their uprightness and right standing with Me), says the Lord God.

¹⁵ If I cause ferocious and evil wild animals to pass through the land and they ravage and bereave it, and it becomes desolate so that no man may pass through because of the beasts;

¹⁶ Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; they themselves alone would be delivered but the land would be desolate (laid waste and deserted).

¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,

¹⁸ Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they themselves alone would be delivered.

¹⁹ Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,

²⁰ Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would but deliver their own lives by their righteousness (their moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation).

²¹ For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send My four sore acts of judgment upon Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil wild beasts, and the pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast!^(A)

²² And yet, behold, in it shall be left a remnant (an escaped portion), both sons and daughters. They shall be carried forth to you [in Babylon], and when you see their [ungodly] walk and their [wicked] doings, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

²³ And they shall console you when you see their evil ways and their rebellious actions. Then you shall know (understand and realize) that I have not done without cause all that I have done in Jerusalem, says the Lord God.

²⁴ And Jesus arose and went away from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He went into a house and did not want anyone to know [that He was there]; but it was not possible for Him to be hidden [from public notice].

²⁵ Instead, at once, a woman whose little daughter had (was under the control of) an unclean spirit heard about Him and came and flung herself down at His feet.

²⁶ Now the woman was a Greek (Gentile), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept begging Him to drive the demon out of her little daughter.

²⁷ And He said to her, First let the children be fed, for it is not becoming or proper or right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the [little house] dogs.

²⁸ But she answered Him, Yes, Lord, yet even the small pups under the table eat the little children’s scraps of food.

²⁹ And He said to her, Because of this saying, you may go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter [permanently].

³⁰ And she went home and found the child thrown on the couch, and the demon departed.