Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 80
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph to the tune “The Lilies.”[a]
Psalm 80 is a communal lament composed in Judah (the Southern Kingdom) after the fall of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in 722 b.c.
1 Turn Your ear toward us, Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead the children of Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned above heaven’s winged creatures,[b]
radiate Your light!
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
arouse Your strength and power,
and save us!
3 Bring us back to You, God.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
4 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies,
how long will You remain angry at the prayers of Your sons and daughters?
5 You have given them tears for food;
You have given them an abundance of tears to drink.
6 You have made us a source of trouble for our neighbors—
our enemies laugh to each other behind our backs.
7 O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
17 Let Your protective hand rest on the one who is at Your right hand,
the child of man whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from You.
Bring us back to life! And we will call out for You!
19 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
13 A day is coming when a special spring will continually flow to purify the royal house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem from sin and sexual and religious impurities.
2 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promises to remove all idolatry from the land.
Eternal One: On that day, I will certainly blot out the names of the detestable idols and false gods from the land. They will never again be remembered or worshiped in this place. What’s more, I will cut off from the land the disreputable prophets and the impure spirits they work for. 3 If prophets speak again, even their fathers and mothers who brought them into the world will condemn them, saying, “You don’t deserve to live, for you speak lies and do so in the name of the Eternal.” And if they still try to prophesy, their parents will pierce their bodies to silence their lying voices. 4 On that day, the prophets will be clothed with the shame their visions will bring them. They will not be clothed with the hairy mantle, the attire of some of My prophets, to deceive the people into believing they speak for Me. 5 And each of them will have to admit, “I am no prophet, no servant of God. I am a farmer, bound to the land. I work the soil because a man sold me into slavery when I was young.” 6 And if anyone happens to say, “How did you get these ritual wounds on your chest and back?” then the answer will come back—another deception—“Oh, I received these at my friend’s house.”
7 This is a message of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
Eternal One: Sword, begin to stir; be ready to strike My shepherd,
to strike the man at My side.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will scatter.[a]
I’ll turn My hand against the little ones.
8 It will spread across the land:
two of three will be cut down and perish,
And one of three will be left to survive.
9 And I will put this one-third through the fire—
refine them all as silver is refined, test them all as gold is tested.
They will invoke My name,
trust in My promises, and I will answer them.
I will announce, “These are My people”;
and they will confess, “The Eternal is our God.”
6 I saw another messenger flying through midheaven. He carried an eternal gospel, bringing good news to all the citizens of the earth—every ethnicity, nation, language, and people.
Heavenly Messenger (with a loud voice): 7 Fear God. Give Him glory, for the time of judgment has arrived. Worship the One who fashioned heaven and earth and created the seas and the springs.
8 Another messenger, a second, came along.
Second Messenger: Fallen, fallen is Babylon, the great city! She has intoxicated all the nations with the wine of the wrath of her sexual perversion.
9 Another messenger, a third, followed.
Third Messenger (with a loud voice): Those who worship the beast and its image, and all who receive its mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10 will be forced to drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured out undiluted into the cup of God’s anger. And they will face the torment of fire and the agony of sulfurous flames before the holy messengers and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise throughout the ages for eternity. Day and night will come and go without pause or cessation. There will be no end to the torture experienced by those who worship the beast and its image and by those who receive the mark of its name.
12 Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice call out from heaven.
A Voice: Record this: “Blessed are the dead who have died in the Lord from now until the end.”
Spirit: Yes, they will rest from their labors because their deeds remain with them.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.