Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
For the choir director; set to [a]El Shoshannim; [b]Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Oh, give ear, (A)Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your power
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, [c]and we will be saved.
4 O (H)Lord God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [d]be angry with the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [e]large measure.
6 You make us [f]an object of contention (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
Woe to Oppressors
2 Woe to those who (A)scheme iniquity,
Who work out evil on their beds!
[a](B)When morning comes, they do it,
For it is in the (C)power of their hands.
2 They (D)covet fields and then (E)seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They [b](F)rob a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am (G)planning against this (H)family a calamity
From which you (I)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk (J)haughtily,
For it will be an (K)evil time.
4 “On that day they will (L)take up against you a [c]taunt
And [d](M)utter a bitter lamentation and say,
‘We are completely (N)destroyed!
He exchanges the portion of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He (O)apportions our fields.’
5 “Therefore you will have no one [e](P)stretching a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
6 ‘(Q)Do not [f]speak out,’ so they [g]speak out.
But if [h]they do (R)not [i]speak out concerning these things,
(S)Reproaches will not be turned back.
7 “Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord (T)impatient?
Are these His doings?’
Do not My words (U)do good
To the one (V)walking uprightly?
8 “[j]Recently My people have arisen as an (W)enemy—
You (X)strip the [k]robe off the garment
From (Y)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
9 “The women of My people you (Z)evict,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My (AA)splendor forever.
10 “Arise and go,
For this is no place (AB)of rest
Because of the (AC)uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
11 “If a man walking after wind and (AD)falsehood
Had told lies and said,
‘I will [l]speak out to you concerning (AE)wine and liquor,’
He would be [m]spokesman to (AF)this people.
12 “I will surely (AG)assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will surely gather the (AH)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with men.
13 “The breaker goes up before them;
They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.
So their king goes on before them,
And the Lord at their head.”
Perilous Times
15 “Therefore when you see the (A)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in (B)the holy place ((C)let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 [a]Whoever is on (D)the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 [b]Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But (E)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a (F)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no [c]life would have been saved; but for (G)the sake of the [d]elect those days will be cut short. 23 (H)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the [e]Christ,’ or ‘[f]There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 For false Christs and (I)false prophets will arise and will [g]show great [h](J)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even (K)the [i]elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 (L)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the (M)coming of the (N)Son of Man be. 28 (O)Wherever the corpse is, there the [j]vultures will gather.
The Glorious Return
29 “But immediately after the (P)tribulation of those days (Q)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and (R)the stars will fall from [k]the sky, and the powers of [l]the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then (S)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see (T)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And (U)He will send forth His angels with (V)a great trumpet and they will gather together His [m](W)elect from (X)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.