Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A prayer for help, and praise for its answer.
A Psalm of David.
28 Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call:
My rock, be not thou deaf unto me;
Lest, if thou be silent unto me,
I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee,
When I lift up my hands [a]toward thy holy oracle.
3 Draw me not away with the wicked,
And with the workers of iniquity;
That speak peace with their neighbors,
But mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings:
Give them after the operation of their hands;
Render to them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of Jehovah,
Nor the operation of his hands,
He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Jehovah,
Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Jehovah is my strength and my shield;
My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped:
Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
And with my song will I praise him.
8 Jehovah is their strength,
And he is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance:
Be their shepherd also, and bear them up for ever.
4 Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; 5 whose [a]possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and [b]their own shepherds pity them not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’s hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily [c]the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called [d]Beauty, and the other I called [e]Bands; and I fed the flock. 8 And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. 9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and [f]that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another. 10 And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken in that day; and [g]thus [h]the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of Jehovah. 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. 13 And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of Jehovah. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not [i]visit those that are [j]cut off, neither will seek [k]those that are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which [l]is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17 Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
19 After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: 2 for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his [a]servants at her hand.
3 And a second time they [b]say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up [c]for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. 5 And a voice came forth from the throne, saying,
Give praise to our God, all ye his [d]servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying,
Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. 7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
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