Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A psalm of David.
69 God, save me,
because the water has risen to my neck.
2 I’m sinking down into the mud,
and there is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water,
and the flood covers me.
3 I am tired from calling for help;
my throat is sore.
My eyes are tired from waiting
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason than hairs on my head;
powerful enemies want to destroy me for no reason.
They make me pay back
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know what I have done wrong;
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
30 I will praise God in a song
and will honor him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him cattle,
more than sacrificing a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Poor people will see this and be glad.
Be encouraged, you who worship God.
33 The Lord listens to those in need
and does not look down on captives.
34 Heaven and earth should praise him,
the seas and everything in them.
35 God will save Jerusalem
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit that land,
and those who love him will live there.
14 You few people of Israel who are left,
do not be afraid even though you are weak as a worm.
I myself will help you,” says the Lord.
“The one who saves you is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Look, I have made you like a new threshing board
with many sharp teeth.
So you will walk on mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like chaff.
16 You will throw them into the air, and the wind will carry them away;
a windstorm will scatter them.
Then you will be happy in the Lord;
you will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The poor and needy people look for water,
but they can’t find any.
Their tongues are dry with thirst.
But I, the Lord, will answer their prayers;
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them to die.
18 I will make rivers flow on the dry hills
and springs flow through the valleys.
I will change the desert into a lake of water
and the dry land into fountains of water.
19 I will make trees grow in the desert—
cedars, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
I will put pine, fir, and cypress trees
growing together in the desert.
20 People will see these things and understand;
they will think carefully about these things and learn
that the Lord’s power did this,
that the Holy One of Israel made these things.”
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God,[a] who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the One I was talking about when I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ 31 Even I did not know who he was, although I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel would know who he is.”
32-33 Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then I did not know who the Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.”[b]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.