Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
94 O Lord, God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, appear!
2 Arise, O Judge of the earth.
Give arrogant people what they deserve.
3 How long, O Lord, will wicked people triumph?
How long?
4 They ramble.
They speak arrogantly.
All troublemakers brag about themselves.
5 They crush your people, O Lord.
They make those who belong to you suffer.
6 They kill widows and foreigners, and they murder orphans.
7 They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it.
The God of Jacob doesn’t even pay attention to it.”
8 Pay attention, you stupid people!
When will you become wise, you fools?
9 God created ears.
Do you think he can’t hear?
He formed eyes.
Do you think he can’t see?
10 He disciplines nations.
Do you think he can’t punish?
He teaches people.
Do you think he doesn’t know anything?
11 The Lord knows that people’s thoughts are pointless.
12 O Lord, blessed is the person
whom you discipline and instruct from your teachings.
13 You give him peace and quiet from times of trouble
while a pit is dug to trap wicked people.
14 The Lord will never desert his people
or abandon those who belong to him.
15 The decisions of judges will again become fair,
and everyone whose motives are decent will pursue justice.
16 Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will stand by my side against troublemakers?
17 If the Lord had not come to help me,
my soul would have quickly fallen silent ⌞in death⌟.
18 When I said, “My feet are slipping,”
your mercy, O Lord, continued to hold me up.
19 When I worried about many things,
your assuring words soothed my soul.
20 Are wicked rulers who use the law to do unlawful things
able to be your partners?
21 They join forces to take the lives of righteous people.
They condemn innocent people to death.
22 The Lord has become my stronghold.
My God has become my rock of refuge.
23 He has turned their own wickedness against them.
He will destroy them because of their sins.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
The Lord Sends a Drought
14 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.
2 Judah mourns; its gates fall apart.
The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground.
Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 Important people send their assistants out for water.
They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water.
They come back with their containers empty.
They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young
because there’s no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the air like jackals.
Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.
7 Do something, Lord, for the sake of your name,
even though our sins testify against us.
We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel’s hope,
the one who saves it in times of trouble.
Why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only one night?
9 Why should you be like someone taken by surprise,
like a strong man who cannot help?
You, O Lord, are among us.
We are called by your name.
Don’t leave us!
10 This is what the Lord says about these people: They love to wander. They don’t keep their feet where they belong. So the Lord isn’t happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.
17 “Say this to them:
‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping
because my dear people will suffer massive destruction.
It will be a very serious blow.’ ”
18 If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war.
If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine.
Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven’t heard of.
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal?
We hope for peace, but no good comes from it.
We hope for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
20 O Lord, we realize our wickedness
and the wrongs done by our ancestors.
We have sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name, don’t despise us.
Don’t dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your promise [a] to us; don’t break it.
22 The worthless gods of the nations can’t make it rain.
By themselves, the skies can’t give showers.
But you can, O Lord our God.
We have hope in you because you do all these things.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial(A)
31 ⌞Then the Lord said,⌟ “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you apostles for himself. He wants to separate you from me as a farmer separates wheat from husks. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. So when you recover, strengthen the other disciples.”
33 But Peter said to him, “Lord, I’m ready to go to prison with you and to die with you.”
54 So they arrested Jesus and led him away to the chief priest’s house.
Peter Denies Jesus(A)
Peter followed at a distance.
55 Some men had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard. As they sat together, Peter sat among them. 56 A female servant saw him as he sat facing the glow of the fire. She stared at him and said, “This man was with Jesus.”
57 But Peter denied it by saying, “I don’t know him, woman.”
58 A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You are one of them.”
But Peter said, “Not me!”
59 About an hour later another person insisted, “It’s obvious that this man was with him. He’s a Galilean!”
60 But Peter said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 Then the Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before a rooster crows today, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
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