Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁵ O Lord, the heavens will praise Your great works and how faithful You are in the meeting of the holy ones. ⁶ For who in the heavens is like the Lord? Who among the sons of the powerful is like the Lord? ⁷ God is honored with fear in the meeting of the holy ones. He is honored with fear more than all who are around Him. ⁸ Lord God of all, powerful Lord, who is like You? All around You we see how faithful You are. ⁹ You rule over the rising sea. When its waves rise, You quiet them. ¹⁰ You have crushed Rahab like one who is killed. You have destroyed those who hate You with Your powerful arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours; and the earth is Yours. You have made the world and all that is in it. ¹² You have made from nothing the north and the south. Tabor and Hermon call out for joy at Your name. ¹³ You have a strong arm. Your hand is powerful. Your right hand is honored. ¹⁴ Your throne stands on what is right and fair. Loving-kindness and truth go before You. ¹⁵ How happy are the people who know the sound of joy! They walk in the light of Your face, O Lord. ¹⁶ They are full of joy in Your name all day long. And by being right with You, they are honored. ¹⁷ For You are the shining-greatness of their strength. And our horn is lifted high by Your favor. ¹⁸ For our safe-covering belongs to the Lord. And our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Once You spoke in a special dream to Your faithful ones, saying: “I have given help to a powerful one. I have honored a chosen one from among the people. ²⁰ I have found David, Your servant. I have poured My holy oil upon him. ²¹ My hand will stay with him. And My arm will give him strength. ²² Those who hate him will not fool him. No sinful man will bring trouble to him. ²³ But he will see Me crush those who fight against him. I will kill those who hate him. ²⁴ I will be faithful and My loving-kindness will be with him. And in My name he will become great. ²⁵ I will set his hand on the sea also, and his right hand on the rivers. ²⁶ He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock that saves me.’ ²⁷ I will make him My first-born also, the highest of the kings of the earth. ²⁸ I will keep My loving-kindness for him forever. And My agreement with him will be made strong. ²⁹ I will make his seed last forever. And his throne will last as long as heaven.

³⁰ “If his sons leave My Law and do not do what I say, ³¹ and if they break My Laws and do not obey My Word, ³² then I will punish their sin with the stick, and their wrong-doing with the whip. ³³ But I will not take my loving-kindness from him. I will always be faithful to him. ³⁴ I will not break My agreement, or change what was spoken by My lips. ³⁵ Once I have promised by My holy name, I will not lie to David. ³⁶ His seed will last forever. And his throne will last before Me like the sun. ³⁷ It will last forever like the moon, which may always be seen in the sky.”

Comfort for Zion

51 “Listen to me, you who are following what is right and good, and who are looking for the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were cut out, and to the hole from which you were dug. ² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain. When he was but one, I called him. Then I brought good to him and made him many.” ³ For the Lord will comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places. He will make her desert like Eden, like the garden of the Lord. Joy and happiness will be found in her. There will be much giving of thanks and much singing.

⁴ “Listen to Me, O My people. Hear Me, O My nation. The Law will go out from Me and My Law will be a light to the people. ⁵ My being right and good is near. My saving power has gone out, and My arms will judge the people. The islands will wait for Me. They will trust with hope for My arm. ⁶ Lift up your eyes to the sky, and look to the earth below. For the sky will go away like smoke. And the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing and those who live in it will die like flies. But My saving power will be forever. My being right and good will not come to an end. ⁷ Listen to Me, you who know what is right and good, you people who have My Law in your hearts. Do not fear the shame of strong words from man. Do not be troubled when they speak against you. ⁸ For the moth will eat them like a piece of clothing. And the worm will eat them like wool. But My being right and good will be forever. My saving power will be to all children’s children to come.”

⁹ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Awake as in the days of old, as You did with the people who lived long ago. Was it not You Who cut Rahab in pieces, and Who cut through the big dragon? ¹⁰ Was it not You Who dried up the sea, the deep waters, and Who made a path through the deep sea for Your saved people to cross over? ¹¹ So the people, for whom the Lord paid the price to be saved, will return. They will come with songs of joy to Zion. Joy that lasts forever will be on their heads. They will receive joy and happiness, and sorrow and sad voices will hurry away.

¹² “I, even I, am He Who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of a man who dies? Why are you afraid of the sons of men who are made like grass, ¹³ that you have forgotten the Lord Who made you? He spread out the heavens and put the earth in its place. Why do you live in fear all day long because of the anger of the one who makes it hard for you as he makes ready to destroy? But where is his anger? ¹⁴ The one in chains will soon be set free, and will not die in prison. And he will always have enough bread. ¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God, Who fills the sea with action so that its waves sound: The Lord of All is His name. ¹⁶ I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand. I spread out the heavens and put the earth in its place, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

Jesus Heals Many People ^(A)

¹⁵ Jesus knew this and went away from there. Many people followed Him and He healed all of them. ¹⁶ He told them to tell no one of Him. ¹⁷ It happened as the early preacher Isaiah said it would happen, saying, ¹⁸ “See! My Servant Whom I have chosen! My much Loved, in Whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit in Him. He will say to the nations what is right from wrong. ¹⁹ He will not fight or speak with a loud voice. No man will hear His voice in the streets. ²⁰ He will not break a broken branch. He will not put out a little fire until He makes things right. ²¹ In His name the nations will have hope.” ^(B)