Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!(B)
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.(C)
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?(D)
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.(E)
6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.(F)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(G)
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.(H)
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(I)
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.(J)
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,(K)
15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b]
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(L)
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.(M)
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.(N)
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.(A)
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent ones,
for the vintage will fail;
the fruit harvest will not come.(B)
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip and make yourselves bare,
and put sackcloth on your loins.(C)
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,[a]
for the fruitful vine,(D)
13 for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
yes, for all the joyous houses
in the jubilant city.(E)
14 For the palace will be forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
the joy of wild asses,
a pasture for flocks;(F)
15 until a spirit from on high is poured out on us,
and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.(G)
The Peace of God’s Reign
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.(H)
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.(I)
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 The forest will disappear completely,[b]
and the city will be utterly laid low.(J)
20 Happy will you be who sow beside every stream,
who let the ox and the donkey range freely.(K)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.