Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
23 Children of Zion, delight
and rejoice in the Lord, your God!
For he has faithfully given you the early rain,[a]
sending rain down on you,
the early and the late rains as before.(A)
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,
the vats spilling over with new wine and oil.
25 I will repay you double
what the swarming locust has eaten,
The hopper, the consuming locust, and the cutter,
my great army I sent against you.(B)
26 You will eat until you are fully satisfied,
then you will praise the name of the Lord, your God,
Who acts so wondrously on your behalf!
My people will never again be put to shame.
27 Then you will know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I, the Lord, am your God, and there is no other;
my people will never again be put to shame.(C)
Psalm 65[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Blessings
1 For the leader. A psalm of David. A song.
I
2 To you we owe our hymn of praise,
O God on Zion;
To you our vows[b] must be fulfilled,
3 [c]you who hear our prayers.
To you all flesh must come(A)
4 with its burden of wicked deeds.
We are overcome by our sins;
only you can pardon them.(B)
5 Blessed the one whom you will choose and bring
to dwell in your courts.
May we be filled with the good things of your house,
your holy temple!
II
6 You answer us with awesome deeds[d] of justice,
O God our savior,
The hope of all the ends of the earth
and of those far off across the sea.(C)
7 You are robed in power,
you set up the mountains by your might.
8 You still the roaring of the seas,(D)
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.(E)
9 Distant peoples stand in awe of your marvels;
the places of morning and evening you make resound with joy.
10 [e]You visit the earth and water it,
make it abundantly fertile.(F)
God’s stream[f] is filled with water;
you supply their grain.
Thus do you prepare it:
11 you drench its plowed furrows,
and level its ridges.
With showers you keep it soft,
blessing its young sprouts.
12 You adorn the year with your bounty;
your paths[g] drip with fruitful rain.
13 The meadows of the wilderness also drip;
the hills are robed with joy.
14 The pastures are clothed with flocks,
the valleys blanketed with grain;
they cheer and sing for joy.(G)
Reward for Fidelity. 6 [a](A)For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 [b]I have competed well; I have finished the race;(B) I have kept the faith. 8 [c]From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day,(C) and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.
16 At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them!(A) 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.(B) 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.(C)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. 9 He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.(A) 10 “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’(B) 13 But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’(C) 14 I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.