Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

123 ⁽⁰⁾ A song of ascents:

⁽¹⁾ I raise my eyes to you,
whose throne is in heaven.
² As a servant looks to the hand of his master,
or a slave-girl to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes turn to Adonai our God,
until he has mercy on us.

³ Have mercy on us, Adonai, have mercy;
for we have had our fill of contempt,
⁴ more than our fill of scorn from the complacent
and contempt from the arrogant.

² “When leaders in Isra’el dedicate themselves,
and the people volunteer,
you should all bless Adonai.
³ Hear, kings; listen, princes;
I will sing to Adonai!
I will sing praise to Adonai
the God of Isra’el.

⁴ “Adonai, when you went out from Se‘ir,
when you marched out from the field of Edom;
the earth quaked, and the sky shook;
yes, the clouds poured down torrents.
⁵ The mountains melted at the presence of Adonai,
at Sinai, before Adonai the God of Isra’el.

⁶ “In the days of Shamgar the son of ‘Anat,
in the days of Ya‘el, the main roads were deserted;
travelers walked the byways.
⁷ The rulers ceased in Isra’el, they ceased,
until you arose, D’vorah,
arose a mother in Isra’el.

⁸ “They chose new gods when war was at the gates.
Was there a shield or spear to be seen
among Isra’el’s forty thousand men?
⁹ My heart goes out to Isra’el’s leaders
and to those among the people who volunteer.
All of you, bless Adonai.

¹⁰ “You who ride white donkeys,
sitting on soft saddle-blankets,
and you walking on the road,
talk about it!
¹¹ Louder than the sound of archers at the watering-holes
will they sound as they retell
the righteous acts of Adonai,
the righteous acts of his rulers in Isra’el.

“Then Adonai’s people marched down to the gates.

¹² “Awake, awake, D’vorah!
Awake, awake, break into song!
Arise, Barak! Lead away your captives,
son of Avino‘am!