Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Is Forever—Man’s Short Life
90 Lord, You have been the place of comfort for all people of all time. 2 Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, forever and ever, You are God.
3 You change man into dust again, and say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday when it passes by, or like the hours of the night. 5 You carry men away as with a flood. They fall asleep. In the morning they are like the new grass that grows. 6 It grows well in the morning, but dries up and dies by evening.
7 For we are burned up by Your anger. By Your anger we are troubled and afraid. 8 You have set our wrong-doing before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face. 9 For all our days pass away in Your anger. We finish our years with a quiet cry. 10 The days of our life are seventy years, or eighty if we have the strength. Yet the best of them are only hard work and sorrow. For they are soon gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger? Your anger is as great as the fear that we should have for You. 12 Teach us to understand how many days we have. Then we will have a heart of wisdom to give You.
13 Return, O Lord. How long will it be? Have pity upon those who work for You. 14 Fill us in the morning with Your loving-kindness. Let us sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as You have made us suffer, and for the years we have seen trouble. 16 Let Your work be shown to Your servants. And let Your wonderful greatness be shown to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. And make the work of our hands stand strong. Yes, make the work of our hands stand strong.
24 So the Lord God of All, the Powerful One of Israel, says, “I will put an end to those who fight against Me. I will punish those who hate Me. 25 I will turn My hand against you and burn what is of no worth in you. And I will take away from you all that is not pure. 26 Then I will give you judges as at the first, and your wise men as at the beginning. After that you will be called the city that is right and good, a faithful city.”
27 Zion will be saved by being fair. Those who are sorry for their sins and turn from them will be saved by being right and good. 28 But wrong-doers and sinners will be crushed together. Those who turn away from the Lord will come to an end. 29 For you will be ashamed of the oaks where you worshiped. You will be ashamed of the gardens you have chosen. 30 For you will be like an oak tree whose leaf dries up, or like a garden that has no water. 31 The strong man will become easy to burn, and his work also a fire. They will burn together, and there will be no one to put the fire out.
Jesus Tells about Jonah (A)
29 When the people were gathered near Jesus, He said, “The people of this day are sinful. They are looking for something special to see. They will get nothing special to see, except what Jonah the early preacher did. 30 As Jonah was something special to the people of the city of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be to the people of this day also. 31 The queen of the south will stand up on the day men stand before God. She will say the people of this day are guilty because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wise sayings of Solomon. And look, Someone greater than Solomon is here! 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up on the day men stand before God. They will say the people of this day are guilty because the men of Nineveh were sorry for their sins and turned from them when Jonah preached. And look, Someone greater than Jonah is here!
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