Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer for Relief from Contempt
A Song of Ascents.
123 Unto You (A)I lift up my eyes,
O You (B)who dwell in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
(C)So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
6 And when (A)Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.
Death of Joshua(B)
7 (C)So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. 8 Now (D)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 (E)And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at (F)Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had [a]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who (G)did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
11 Then the children of Israel did (H)evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they (I)forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed (J)other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they (K)bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord (L)and served [b]Baal and the [c]Ashtoreths. 14 (M)And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He (N)delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and (O)He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they (P)could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had (Q)sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.
The Seven Bowls
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying (A)to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the [a]bowls (B)of the wrath of God on the earth.”
First Bowl: Loathsome Sores
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl (C)upon the earth, and a [b]foul and (D)loathsome sore came upon the men (E)who had the mark of the beast and those (F)who worshiped his image.
Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl (G)on the sea, and (H)it became blood as of a dead man; (I)and every living creature in the sea died.
Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl (J)on the rivers and springs of water, (K)and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
(L)“You are righteous, [c]O Lord,
The One (M)who is and who [d]was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
6 For (N)they have shed the blood (O)of saints and prophets,
(P)And You have given them blood to drink.
[e]For it is their just due.”
7 And I heard [f]another from the altar saying, “Even so, (Q)Lord God Almighty, (R)true and righteous are Your judgments.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.