Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 7[a]
Appeal to the Divine Judge
1 A plaintive song of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush,[b] a Benjaminite.
2 O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you;
keep me safe from all my pursuers and deliver me,
3 lest like a lion they tear me to pieces
and carry me off, with no one to rescue me.
4 O Lord, my God, if I have done this,
if my hands are stained with guilt,
5 if I have repaid a friend with treachery—
I who spared the lives of those who without cause were my enemies—[c]
6 then let my foe pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life into the ground
and leave my honor in the dust. Selah
7 Rise up, O Lord, in your indignation;
rise against the fury of my enemies.
Rouse yourself for me,
and fulfill the judgment you have decreed.
8 Let the peoples assemble in your presence
as you sit above them enthroned on high.
9 The Lord is the judge of the nations.
Therefore, pass judgment on me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my innocence, O Most High.
10 Put an end to the malice of the wicked
but continue to sustain the righteous,
O God of justice,
you who search minds and hearts.[d]
11 God is a shield to me;
he saves those who are upright of heart.
12 God is a just judge,
a God who expresses his indignation every day.
13 When a sinner refuses to repent,
God sharpens his sword,
and he bends and aims his bow.
14 He has prepared deadly weapons for him
and made his arrows into fiery shafts.
15 [e]Behold, he who conceives iniquity
and is pregnant with mischief
will give birth to lies.
16 He digs a pit and makes it deep,
but he will fall into the trap he has made.
17 His wickedness will recoil upon his own head,
and his violence will fall back on his own crown.
18 I will offer thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness,
and I will sing hymns of praise[f] to the name of the Lord Most High.
Chapter 5
Funereal Chant
1 Listen to these words that I utter against you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, to rise no more,
the virgin Israel.
She lies forsaken on her own soil,
with no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God:
The city that marched out to war with a thousand
will be left with a hundred;
and the one that marched out with a hundred
will have only ten left.
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
If you seek me, you will survive,
5 but do not go to Bethel.
Do not journey to Gilgal,
and do not cross over to Beer-sheba.
For Gilgal will surely be led into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and you will live,
or else, like a fire,
he will sweep through the house of Joseph,
with no one able to quench the flames.
Hymn to God the Creator
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns heavy darkness into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who summons the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the surface of the earth,
9 who brings destruction on the strong
and ruin upon the fortress:
the Lord is his name.
7 Woe to those who turn justice to wormwood
and thrust righteousness to the ground.
31 The Solemn Judgment at the End of Time.[a]“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was ill and you took care of me; I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will say to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and come to visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brethren of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not give me any clothing; I was ill and in prison and you did not visit me.’
44 “Then they will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison and not minister to you?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you failed to do for one of the least of these brethren of mine, you failed to do for me.’ 46 And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous will enter eternal life.”
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