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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 102:1-17

Psalm 102^[a]

Prayer of an Exile

¹The prayer of one afflicted. When he is wasting away^[b] and pours out his anguish before the Lord.

²^[c]O Lord, give heed to my prayer;
    let my plea for help reach you.
³Do not conceal your face^[d] from my sight
    in the time of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
    on the day when I call out to you, answer me speedily.
⁴For my days are fading away like smoke,
    and my bones are burning like live coals.
⁵My heart^[e] is stricken, withered like grass;
    I am too exhausted to eat my bread.
⁶As a result of my incessant groaning,
    I am now nothing more than skin and bones.
⁷I am like a pelican^[f] of the wilderness,
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁸I am sleepless^[g] and I moan
    like a lone sparrow on a rooftop.
⁹All day long my enemies revile me;^[h]
    those who rage against me use my name as a curse.
¹⁰^[i]I eat ashes as though they were bread,
    and I mingle tears with my drink.
¹¹Because of your indignation and wrath,
    you have raised me up only to cast me down.
¹²My days are like a lengthening shadow,
    and I am withering away like grass.
¹³^[j]But, you, O Lord, are enthroned forever,
    and your renown will endure for all generations.
¹⁴You will arise and show mercy to Zion,
    for it is time for you to have pity on her;
    the appointed time^[k] has come.
¹⁵For her stones are precious to your servants,
    and her dust causes them to weep.^[l]
¹⁶The nations will revere your name,^[m] O Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth will sing of your glory.
¹⁷For the Lord will rebuild Zion
    and reveal himself in all his glory.^[n]

Footnotes

Psalm 102:1 Known as the fifth of the seven Penitential Psalms (Pss 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143), this psalm combines the lament of an afflicted person overwhelmed with pain and the prayer of the community of poor returned exiles waiting to be able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, their holy city. It shows that humanity and the universe pass away, while God remains (vv. 12-13, 26, 28). This is the proof of the Lord’s power and the reason for their hopes.
It is also the reason for the hopes of Christians, since we know that in Jesus and in his Church, God has built an imperishable dwelling place for his people, a point emphasized by the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 1:10-12) when it comments on verses 26-28 of this psalm.
Psalm 102:1 This superscription is unique, giving neither author nor liturgical or historical note; instead it assigns the prayer to a life situation—when one afflicted is close to giving up, i.e., wasting away (see Pss 61:3; 77:4; 142:4; 143:4).
Psalm 102:2 One day, possibly during a grave sickness, the psalmist reaches the bitter conclusion of the inconsistency of human life. And the supreme outrage is that all who see him attribute his sad state to punishment sent by God, for his prayer and repentance receive no answer. The poor man experiences the depths of anguish where everything is falling apart; he can do nothing except cry out to God.
Psalm 102:3 Conceal your face: see note on Ps 13:2.
Psalm 102:5 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8. Withered like grass: see note on Ps 90:5.
Psalm 102:7 Pelican: a bird that in Christian times became a symbol of Christ all alone in Gethsemane and of the Eucharist. The word is also translated as “owl.” Owl: a symbol of desolateness and destruction (see Isa 34:11, 15; Jer 50:39; Zep 2:14).
Psalm 102:8 I am sleepless: some translations omit the words: “and I moan.”
Psalm 102:9 Enemies revile me: see note on Ps 5:10; see also Ps 109:25. Use my name as a curse: his enemies point him out as an example of divine malediction, saying: “May you become as wretched as so-and-so.”
Psalm 102:10 The Israelites indicated their penance externally by covering their heads with ashes and uttering lamentation accompanied by copious tears. To obtain God’s pity, the sick psalmist does not hold back. He covers himself with such an abundance of ashes that they are interspersed with his food, and he gives way to so many tears that they mingle with his drink. All the same, he is inexorably on his way toward death.
Psalm 102:13 The people thus experience a time of scorn. Uprooted from their temple and their land, they are too overwhelmed by the loss of what they most cherish for them to think of revenge. They have recourse to God’s tender mercies. In their misfortune, they fall back on a single certitude—the goodness of the Lord. At once, hope of restoration begins shining forth, for “the appointed time has come” (v. 14)—so much so that they do not stop at imagining the sole reestablishment of Israel, but their perspective of renewed happiness embraces all humanity.
Psalm 102:14 Appointed time: the time established by God for judgment and salvation (see Ps 75:3; Ex 9:5; 2 Sam 24:15; Dan 11:27, 35).
Psalm 102:15 The psalmist intimates that Zion must be highly cherished by the Lord for she is so dear to his servants.
Psalm 102:16 See note on Ps 46:11. Name: see note on Ps 5:12.
Psalm 102:17 And reveal himself in all his glory: may also be translated as: “and thus appear in his glory” (see v. 16 and note on Ps 46:11; see also Isa 40:1-5). The ultimate fulfillment of this hope will occur in the “new Jerusalem” (see Rev 21).

Jeremiah 29:8-23

⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not be deceived by the prophets and the diviners who are in your midst or listen to the dreams they relate, ⁹for they are prophesying lies to you in my name. I did not send them, says the Lord.

¹⁰For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years that I have granted to Babylon have been completed, I will visit you and fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.

¹²When you call out to me and come forth and pray to me, I will listen to you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me. When you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will allow you to discover me, says the Lord. I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

¹⁵You have said that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. ¹⁶This is what the Lord has to say concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your countrymen who did not go forth with you into exile: ¹⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will afflict them with sword, famine, and pestilence; I will make them like rotten figs that are so repulsive they cannot be eaten.

¹⁸I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. They will be an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and derision, to all the nations among whom I have driven them. ¹⁹For they refused to listen to my words, says the Lord, despite the fact that I persisted in sending them my servants the prophets. They continued in their stubbornness and refused to listen, says the Lord.

²⁰But now, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the voice of the Lord. ²¹Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name: I intend to hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.

²²Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who were sent to Babylon will use this curse. “May the Lord make you like Zede-kiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in a blazing fire.” ²³For they have perpetrated outrageous crimes in Israel; not only did they commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, but in my name they have spoken lies that I never commanded them to utter. I know these things and bear witness to them, says the Lord.

Acts 26:24-29

²⁴Reactions to Paul’s Speech. While Paul was still speaking in his own defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane.” ²⁵But he replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. What I am asserting is true and reasonable. ²⁶The king understands these matters, and to him I now speak freely. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, for all this was not done in a corner.^[a] ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets?^[b] I know that you do.”

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a brief time you can persuade me to become a Christian?” ²⁹Paul responded, “Whether in a short time or longer, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 102[a]

Prayer of an Exile

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 102^[a]