Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 28
A Psalm of David.
1 To You, O Lord, will I cry;
my Rock, do not be silent to me;
lest if You were silent to me,
then I would become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry to You,
when I lift up my hands
toward Your most holy place.
3 Do not draw me away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity,
who speak peace to their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their deeds,
and according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
give them according to the work of their hands;
return to them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
nor the work of His hands,
He will destroy them
and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
because He has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusted in Him, and I was helped;
therefore my heart rejoices,
and with my song I will thank Him.
8 The Lord is the strength of His people,
and He is the saving strength of His anointed.
9 Save Your people,
and bless Your inheritance;
feed them and lift them up forever.
Two Kinds of Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God: Shepherd the flock of slaughter. 5 The ones who buy them then slaughter them and have no guilt, and those who sell them say, “Blessed is the Lord because I am rich.” Their own shepherds do not take pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on those who dwell in the land, says the Lord. But I will cause each of them to fall into the hands of his neighbor, even into the hands of his king. They will crush the land, and I will not deliver any from their hands.
7 So I shepherded the flock that was for slaughter, even the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs. One I called Favor and the other I gave the name Union. So I pastured the flock. 8 I destroyed the three shepherds in the span of one month.
For my soul was impatient with them, and their souls detested me. 9 Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left devour each other’s flesh.”
10 I took the staff named Favor and cut it into pieces, to break the covenant that I made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken that day, and the afflicted of the flock were watching me and knew that this was the word of the Lord.
12 Then I said to them, “If this is good in your eyes, then give my wages to me, but if not, then keep it.” They weighed my wages at thirty pieces of silver.
13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, the splendid price by which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty silver pieces and threw them to the house of the Lord to the potter.
14 Then I cut up the second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me: Take for yourself again the vessels carried by a foolish shepherd. 16 I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor feed those who are standing still. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hoofs in pieces.
17 Woe to this worthless shepherd
who abandons his flock.
May the sword take his arm and right eye;
may his arm surely wither up,
and his right eye become blind.
19 After these things I heard a great sound of many people in heaven, shouting:
“Alleluia!
Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
2 For true and righteous are His judgments,
because He has judged the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants.”
3 Again they said:
“Alleluia!
Her smoke rises forever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sat on the throne, saying:
“Amen! Alleluia!”
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you His servants
and those who fear Him,
both small and great!”
6 Then I heard something like the sound like a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying:
“Alleluia!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 Let us be glad and rejoice
and give Him glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His wife has made herself ready.
8 It was granted her to be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white.”
Fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.