Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 65
God’s Care for the Earth
For the choir director. A psalm of David. A song.
1 Praise is rightfully yours,[a]
God, in Zion;
vows to you will be fulfilled.(A)
2 All humanity will come to you,
the one who hears prayer.(B)
3 Iniquities overwhelm me;
only you can atone for our rebellions.(C)
4 How happy is the one you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,(D)
the holiness of your temple.[b](E)
5 You answer us in righteousness,
with awe-inspiring works,
God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the distant seas.(F)
6 You establish the mountains by your power;
you are robed with strength.(G)
7 You silence the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves,
and the tumult of the nations.(H)
8 Those who live far away are awed by your signs;
you make east and west shout for joy.(I)
9 You visit the earth and water it abundantly,
enriching it greatly.
God’s stream is filled with water,
for you prepare the earth in this way,
providing people with grain.(J)
10 You soften it with showers and bless its growth,
soaking its furrows and leveling its ridges.(K)
11 You crown the year with your goodness;
your carts overflow with plenty.[c](L)
12 The wilderness pastures overflow,
and the hills are robed with joy.(M)
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys covered with grain.(N)
They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.(O)
1 The word of the Lord that came(A) to Joel son of Pethuel:
A Plague of Locusts
2 Hear this,(B) you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days(C)
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,(D)
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
4 What the devouring locust(E) has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust(F) has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust(G) has eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards,(H) and weep;
wail, all you wine drinkers,
because of the sweet wine,
for it has been taken from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,(I)
powerful and without number;
its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.(J)
7 It has devastated my grapevine
and splintered my fig tree.
It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away;
its branches have turned white.
8 Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,(K)
mourning for the husband of her youth.
9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off(L)
from the house of the Lord;
the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.(M)
10 The fields are destroyed;(N)
the land grieves;
indeed, the grain is destroyed;
the new wine is dried up;(O)
and the fresh oil fails.(P)
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,(Q)
wail, you vinedressers,[a]
over the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field has perished.(R)
12 The grapevine is dried up,(S)
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate,(T) the date palm,(U) and the apple(V)—
all the trees of the orchard—have withered.
Indeed, human joy has dried up.(W)
13 Dress in sackcloth and lament,(X) you priests;(Y)
wail,(Z) you ministers of the altar.
Come and spend the night in sackcloth,(AA)
you ministers of my God,
because grain and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Announce a sacred fast;(AB)
proclaim a solemn assembly!
Gather the elders(AC)
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the Lord your God,(AD)
and cry out to the Lord.(AE)
The Day of the Lord
15 Woe because of that day!(AF)
For the day of the Lord is near
and will come as devastation from the Almighty.(AG)
16 Hasn’t the food been cut off
before our eyes,(AH)
joy and gladness(AI)
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.[b](AJ)
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the grain has withered away.
18 How the animals groan!(AK)
The herds of cattle wander in confusion
since they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.
19 I call to you, Lord,(AL)
for fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness,(AM)
and flames have devoured
all the trees of the orchard.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to[c] you,(AN)
for the river beds are dried up,(AO)
and fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness.
Difficult Times Ahead
3 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.(A) 2 For people will be lovers of self,(B) lovers of money,(C) boastful, proud,(D) demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,(E) 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers,(F) without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,(G) 4 traitors,(H) reckless,(I) conceited,(J) lovers of pleasure(K) rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.(L) Avoid these people.(M)
6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions,(N) 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.(O) 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres(P) resisted Moses,(Q) so these also resist the truth. They are men who are corrupt in mind(R) and worthless(S) in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be clear to all, as was the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.