Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who (A)plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
6 If I do not remember you,
Let my (B)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
16 “For these things I weep;
My eye, (A)my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”
17 (B)Zion [a]spreads out her hands,
But no one comforts her;
The Lord has commanded concerning Jacob
That those (C)around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is (D)righteous,
For I (E)rebelled against His [b]commandment.
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my sorrow;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 “I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.
20 “See, O Lord, that I am in distress;
My (F)soul[c] is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
(G)Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.
21 “They have heard that I sigh,
But no one comforts me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
They are (H)glad that You have done it.
Bring on (I)the day You have [d]announced,
That they may become like me.
22 “Let(J) all their wickedness come before You,
And do to them as You have done to me
For all my transgressions;
For my sighs are many,
And my heart is faint.”
Profiting from Trials
2 My brethren, (A)count it all joy (B)when you fall into various trials, 3 (C)knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 (D)If any of you lacks wisdom, (E)let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and (F)it will be given to him. 6 (G)But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is (H)a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The Perspective of Rich and Poor
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because (I)as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.