Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song for going up to the Temple.
123 Lord, I look up and pray to you.
You sit as King in heaven.
2 A slave looks to his master to provide what he needs,
and a servant girl depends on the woman she serves.
So we depend on the Lord our God,
waiting for him to have mercy on us.
3 Lord, be merciful to us,
because we have been insulted much too long.
4 We have had enough of the hateful words of those proud people
who make fun of us and show us no respect.
The Song of Deborah
5 [a] On the day that the Israelites defeated Sisera, Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
2 “The men of Israel prepared for battle.[b]
They volunteered to go to war.
Praise the Lord!
3 “Listen, kings.
Pay attention, rulers.
I will sing.
I myself will sing to the Lord.
I will make music to the Lord,
to the God of the Israelites.
4 “Lord, in the past you came from Seir.[c]
You marched from the land of Edom.
You marched and the earth shook.
The skies rained.
The clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains shook before the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel!
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,[d]
and in the days of Jael, the main roads were empty.
Caravans and travelers traveled on the back roads.
7 “There were no soldiers in Israel
until you came, Deborah,
until you came to be a mother to Israel.[e]
8 “God chose new leaders
to fight at the city gates.[f]
No one could find a shield or a spear
among the 40,000 soldiers of Israel.
9 “My heart is with the commanders of Israel.
They volunteered to go to war.
Praise the Lord!
10 “Pay attention you people riding on white donkeys,
sitting on saddle blankets,[g]
and walking along the road.
11 At the watering holes for the animals,
we hear the music of cymbals.
People sing about the victories of the Lord,
the victories of his soldiers in Israel
when the Lord’s people
fought at the city gates and won!
12 “Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, sing the song!
Get up, Barak!
Go capture your enemies, son of Abinoam!
The Danger of Emptiness(A)
43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none. 44 So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ When it comes back, it finds that home still empty. It is all neat and clean. 45 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International