Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An expectant prayer for Jehovah’s help.
A Song of Ascents.
123 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes,
O thou that sittest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress;
So our eyes look unto Jehovah our God,
Until he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us;
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scoffing of those that are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud.
5 Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
2 For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah.
3 Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah;
I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
4 Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains [a]quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, [b]the highways were unoccupied,
And the travellers walked through [c]byways.
7 [d]The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased,
Until that I Deborah arose,
That I arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates:
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
[e]That offered themselves willingly among the people:
Bless ye Jehovah.
10 Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit on rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
11 [f]Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of Jehovah,
Even the righteous acts [g]of his rule in Israel.
Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
43 But the unclean spirit, when [a]he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. 44 Then [b]he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when [c]he is come, [d]he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth [e]he, and taketh with [f]himself seven other spirits more evil than [g]himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.
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