Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 72
The Rule of the Righteous King
Heading
By Solomon.
The King’s Justice
1 God, give your authority to judge to the King.
Give your righteousness to the Son of the King.
2 He will judge your people with righteousness.
He will judge your afflicted ones with justice.
3 The mountains will deliver peace to the people.
The hills will produce righteousness.
4 He will obtain justice for the afflicted among the people.
He will save the children of the poor,
but he will crush the oppressor.
The King’s Eternal Reign
5 They will fear you[a] as long as the sun remains,
and as long as the moon endures, through all generations.
6 He will come down like rain on a mown field,
like showers, like a downpour on the earth.
7 In his days the righteous will flourish,
and peace will be plentiful till the moon is no more.
The King’s Universal Reign
8 He will rule[b] from sea to sea
and from the River[c] to the ends of the earth.
9 Those who dwell in the desert will bow before him,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the sea coasts will bring tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer him gifts.
11 All kings will bow down to him.
All nations will serve him.
The Blessings of His Rule
12 He will certainly deliver the poor person who cries out,
as well as the afflicted, and the one who has no helper.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the poor.
He will save the lives of the poor.
14 From oppression and violence he will redeem their lives,
because their blood is precious in his sight.
A Prayer for His Blessings
15 May the King live![d]
May gold from Sheba be offered to him.
May people always pray for him.
May they bless him all day long.
16 Let there be an abundance of grain in the land.
Let it wave on the top of the mountains.
Let its fruit trees be like the cedars of Lebanon.[e]
Let people from the city flourish like the grass of the land.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name flourish as long as the sun.
They will be blessed through him.
All nations will call him blessed.
Closing Doxology
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever.
May the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Balaam’s Fourth Message
15 Balaam took up his oracle and said:
The declaration of Balaam son of Beor,
the declaration of the man whose eye is open,
16 the declaration of the one who hears the words of God,
who receives knowledge from the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who is falling down, but his eyes are wide open:
17 I see him, but not now.
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob.
A scepter will rise up out of Israel.
It will smash the foreheads of Moab
and the skulls[a] of all the people of Sheth.
18 Edom will lose its territory to others.
Seir, Israel’s enemy, also will become a possession,
but Israel will display its power.
19 One who comes from Jacob will rule,
and he will destroy the survivors of the city.
Zechariah’s Song
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70 just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets.
71 He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant,
73 the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
74 to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies,
so that we are able to serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of God’s tender mercies,
by which the Rising Sun from on high will visit us,
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.