Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
65 You are praised with silence in Zion, O God,
and vows ⌞made⌟ to you must be kept.
2 You are the one who hears prayers.
Everyone will come to you.
3 Various sins overwhelm me.
You are the one who forgives our rebellious acts.
4 Blessed is the person you choose
and invite to live with you in your courtyards.
We will be filled with good food from your house,
from your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awe-inspiring acts ⌞done⌟ in righteousness,
O God, our savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the most distant sea,
6 the one who set the mountains in place with his strength,
the one who is clothed with power,
7 the one who calms the roar of the seas,
their crashing waves,
and the uproar of the nations.
8 Those who live at the ends of the earth are in awe of your miraculous signs.
The lands of the morning sunrise and evening sunset sing joyfully.
9 You take care of the earth, and you water it.
You make it much richer than it was.
(The river of God is filled with water.)
You provide grain for them.
Indeed, you even prepare the ground.
10 You drench plowed fields ⌞with rain⌟
and level their clumps of soil.
You soften them with showers
and bless what grows in them.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and richness overflows wherever you are.
12 The pastures in the desert overflow ⌞with richness⌟.
The hills are surrounded with joy.
13 The pastures are covered with flocks.
The valleys are carpeted with grain.
All of them shout triumphantly. Indeed, they sing.
The Prophet Joel
1 This is what the Lord said to Joel, son of Pethuel.
Judah Is Plagued with Locusts and Famine
2 Listen to this, you leaders!
Open your ears, all inhabitants of this land!
Nothing like this has ever happened in your lifetime
or in your ancestors’ lifetime.
3 Tell your children about it.
Have your children tell their children.
Have your grandchildren tell their children.
4 What young locusts leave, mature locusts will eat.
What mature locusts leave, adult locusts will eat.
What adult locusts leave, grasshoppers will eat.
5 Wake up and cry, you drunks!
Cry loudly, you wine drinkers!
New wine has been taken away from you.
6 A strong nation attacked my land.
It has too many soldiers to count.
They have teeth like lions.
They have fangs like grown lions.
7 They destroyed my grapevines.
They ruined my fig trees.
They stripped off what they could eat,
threw the rest away, and left the branches bare.
8 Cry loudly like a young woman who is dressed in sackcloth,
mourning for the man she was going to marry.
9 Grain offerings and wine offerings
are no longer brought to the Lord’s temple.
The priests, the Lord’s servants, mourn.
10 Israel’s fields are ruined, and the ground is dried up.
The grain has been destroyed.
The new wine has dried up.
The olive oil has run out.
11 Be sad, you farmers!
Cry loudly, you grape growers!
Mourn for the wheat and the barley.
The harvest is destroyed in the field.
12 The grapevines are dried up.
The fig trees are withered.
The pomegranate, palm, and apricot trees,
as well as all the trees in the orchards, have died.
Yes, the joy of these people has died too.
13 Put on your sackcloth and mourn, you priests.
Cry loudly, you servants of the altar.
Spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God.
Grain offerings and wine offerings
are withheld from your God’s temple.
14 Schedule a time to fast!
Call for an assembly!
Gather the leaders and everyone who lives in the land.
Bring them to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry to the Lord for help.
15 This will be a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near,
and it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
16 Food disappears right before our eyes.
Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God’s temple.
17 Seeds shrivel up in their shells.
Storehouses are destroyed.
Barns are ruined.
The grain has dried up.
18 The animals groan.
Herds of cattle wander around confused.
There’s no pasture for them.
Even flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 O Lord, I cry to you for help!
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards.
20 Even wild animals long for you.
Streams run dry.
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Watch Out for Sinful People
3 You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. 2 People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, 3 and lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. 4 They will be traitors. They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will appear to have a godly life, but they will not let its power change them. Stay away from such people.
6 Some of these men go into homes and mislead weak-minded women who are burdened with sins and led by all kinds of desires. 7 These women are always studying but are never able to recognize the truth.
8 As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. Their minds are corrupt, and the faith they teach is counterfeit. 9 Certainly, they won’t get very far. Like the stupidity of Jannes and Jambres, their stupidity will be plain to everyone.
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