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.
The Song of Deborah
5 Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam (A)sang on that day, saying:
2 “When[a] leaders (B)lead in Israel,
(C)When the people [b]willingly offer themselves,
Bless the Lord!
3 “Hear,(D) O kings! Give ear, O princes!
I, even (E)I, will sing to the Lord;
I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
4 “Lord, (F)when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from (G)the field of Edom,
The earth trembled and the heavens poured,
The clouds also poured water;
5 (H)The mountains [c]gushed before the Lord,
(I)This Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (J)Shamgar, son of Anath,
In the days of (K)Jael,
(L)The highways were deserted,
And the travelers walked along the byways.
7 Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Arose a mother in Israel.
8 They chose (M)new gods;
Then there was war in the gates;
Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with the rulers of Israel
Who offered themselves willingly with the people.
Bless the Lord!
10 “Speak, you who ride on white (N)donkeys,
Who sit in judges’ attire,
And who walk along the road.
11 Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places,
There they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
The righteous acts for His villagers in Israel;
Then the people of the Lord shall go down to the gates.
12 “Awake,(O) awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and lead your captives away,
O son of Abinoam!
An Unclean Spirit Returns(A)
43 (B)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, (C)he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; (D)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.