Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 80
For the music leader. According to “Lotus Blossoms.” A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen!
You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep.
You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.
Show yourself 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh!
Wake up your power!
Come to save us!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt.
You drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
then it planted its roots deep, filling the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shade;
the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
11 It sent its branches all the way to the sea;
its shoots went all the way to the Euphrates River.[a]
12 So why have you now torn down its walls
so that all who come along can pluck its fruit,
13 so that any boar from the forest can tear it up,
so that the bugs can feed on it?
14 Please come back, God of heavenly forces!
Look down from heaven and perceive it!
Attend to this vine,
15 this root that you planted with your strong hand,
this son whom you secured as your very own.
16 It is burned with fire. It is chopped down.
They die at the rebuke coming from you.
17 Let your hand be with the one on your right side—
with the one whom you secured as your own—
18 then we will not turn away from you!
Revive us so that we can call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!
Make your face shine so that we can be saved!
5 Come, house of Jacob,
let’s walk by the Lord’s light.
Everyone is brought low
6 You have abandoned your people,
house of Jacob.
They are full of sorcerers from the east and fortune-tellers like the Philistines;
they hold hands with foreigners’ children.[a]
7 Their land is full of silver and gold;
they have countless treasures.
Their land is filled with horses;
they have countless chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they worship their handiwork,
what their own fingers have made.
9 Humanity will be brought down;
each person laid low—don’t lift them up![b]
10 Go into the rocks,
and hide yourself in the dust from the terror of the Lord,
from the splendor of God’s majesty!
11 People’s proud gazing will be stopped
and humanity’s arrogance brought down;
the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
Judgment for intentional sin
26 If we make the decision to sin after we receive the knowledge of the truth, there isn’t a sacrifice for sins left any longer. 27 There’s only a scary expectation of judgment and of a burning fire that’s going to devour God’s opponents. 28 When someone rejected the Law from Moses, they were put to death without mercy on the basis of the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think is deserved by the person who walks all over God’s Son, who acts as if the blood of the covenant that made us holy is just ordinary blood, and who insults the Spirit of grace? 30 We know the one who said,
Judgment is mine; I will pay people back.[a]
And he also said,
The Lord will judge his people.[b]
31 It’s scary to fall into the hands of the living God!
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible