Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 79
They Have Reduced Jerusalem to Rubble
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.
The Destruction and the Disgrace
1 God, the nations have invaded your possession.
They have profaned your holy temple.
They have reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky.
They have given the flesh of your favored ones to the wild animals.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
4 We are subjected to contempt by our neighbors,
to mockery and ridicule by those around us.
The Prayer for Justice
5 How long, O Lord? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,
7 because they have devoured Jacob,
and they have destroyed his pastureland.[a]
8 Do not charge the guilt of our fathers against us.
Hurry, let your compassion come to meet us,
for we are very weak.
9 God, who saves us, help us for the glory of your name.
Deliver us and make atonement for our sins for your name’s sake.
8 At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people who live in Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun, to the moon, and to all the army of the heavens, which they loved and served and followed and consulted and worshipped. They will not be gathered up again. They will not be reburied. They will lie on the ground like manure. 3 Death will be chosen rather than life for[a] the entire remnant left from this evil family, wherever I banish them, declares the Lord of Armies.
4 You are to tell them that this is what the Lord says:
Do people fall and not get up again?
If a person turns away, doesn’t he turn back again?
5 Then why has this people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They hang on to deception
and refuse to let it go.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness.
No one asks, “What have I done?”
Everyone pursues his own course,
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons.
The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush[b]
observe the right time for their migration.
But my people do not recognize
the just judgments of the Lord.
8 How can you say, “We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us,”
when in reality the lying pen of the scribes
has changed it into a lie?
9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be shattered and captured.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners,
because, from the least to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophet to priest, everyone practices deceit.
11 They dress the wound of the daughter of my people[c]
as if it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed when they do such a detestable thing?
No, they have no shame at all.
They do not even know how to blush.
That is why they will fall among the fallen.
They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.
13 I will take away their harvest,[d] declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree,
and the leaves will wither.
What I have given them will be taken away from them.
Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love
31 What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus,[a] who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written:
For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.[b]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors[c] through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.