Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 84[a]
Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem
1 For the leader; “upon the gittith.” A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 How lovely your dwelling,
O Lord of hosts!(A)
3 My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the Lord.(B)
My heart and flesh cry out
for the living God.
4 [b]As the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow a nest to settle her young,
My home is by your altars,
Lord of hosts, my king and my God!(C)
5 Blessed are those who dwell in your house!
They never cease to praise you.
Selah
II
6 Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,
in their hearts are pilgrim roads.
7 As they pass through the Baca valley,[c]
they find spring water to drink.
The early rain covers it with blessings.
8 They will go from strength to strength[d]
and see the God of gods on Zion.
III
9 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.
Selah
10 [e]O God, watch over our shield;
look upon the face of your anointed.(D)
IV
11 Better one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
Better the threshold of the house of my God
than a home in the tents of the wicked.
12 For a sun and shield is the Lord God,
bestowing all grace and glory.
The Lord withholds no good thing
from those who walk without reproach.
13 O Lord of hosts,
blessed the man who trusts in you!
20 (A)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sands by the sea; they ate and drank and rejoiced.
Chapter 5
Vigilance. 1 Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you.(A) 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.(B) 3 When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief.(C) 5 For all of you are children of the light[a] and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. 6 Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.(D) 7 Those who sleep go to sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet that is hope for salvation.(E) 9 For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him.[b] 11 Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.(F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.