Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ O True God, why have You turned Your back on us and abandoned us forever?
    Why is Your anger seething and Your wrath smoldering against the sheep of Your pasture?
² Remember the congregation of people You acquired long ago,
    the tribe which You redeemed to be Your very own.
    Remember Mount Zion, where You have chosen to live!
³ Come, direct Your attention to Your sanctuary;
    our enemy has demolished everything and left it in complete ruin.

⁴ Your enemies roared like lions in Your sacred chamber;
    they have claimed it with their own standards as signs.
⁵ They acted like lumberjacks swinging their axes
    to cut down a stand of trees.
⁶ They hacked up all the beautifully carved items,
    smashed them to splinters with their axes and hammers.
⁷ They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
    they have desecrated the place where Your holy name lived in honor;
⁸ They have plotted in their hearts, “We will crush them and bring them to their knees!”
    Then they scorched all of the places in the land where the True God met His people.

⁹ We no longer receive signs,
    there are no more prophets who remain,
    and not one of us knows how long this situation will last.
¹⁰ O True God, how much longer will the enemy mock us?
    Will this insult continue against You forever?
¹¹ Why do You stand by and do nothing?
    Unleash Your power and finish them off!

¹² Even so, the True God is my King from long ago,
    bringing salvation to His people throughout the land.
¹³ You have divided the sea with Your power;
    You shattered the skulls of the creatures of the sea;
¹⁴ You smashed the heads of Leviathan
    and fed his remains to the people of the desert.
¹⁵ You broke open the earth and springs burst forth and streams filled the crevices;
    You dried up the great rivers.
¹⁶ The day and the night are both Yours—
    You fashioned the sun, moon, and all the lights that pierce the darkness.
¹⁷ You have arranged the earth, set all its boundaries;
    You are the Architect of the seasons: summer and winter.

¹⁸ Eternal One, do not forget that the enemy has taunted You
    and a company of fools has rejected Your name.
¹⁹ We are Your precious turtledoves;
    don’t surrender our souls to the wild beasts.
    Do not forget the lives of Your poor, afflicted, and brokenhearted ones forever.

²⁰ Be mindful of Your covenant with us,
    for the dark corners of the land are filled with pockets of violence.
²¹ Do not allow the persecuted to return without honor;
    may the poor, wounded, and needy sing praises to You;
    may they bring glory to Your name!
²² O True God, rise up and defend Your cause;
    remember how the foolish man insults You every hour of the day.
²³ Do not forget the voices of Your enemies,
    the commotion and chaos of Your foes, which continually grow.

Eternal One: Make no mistake about it: many houses will be abandoned.
        Grand, beautiful houses with all the luxury will echo empty.
¹⁰     Huge investments in 10-acre vineyards
        will yield tiny dividends, mere gallons of wine.
    Prime property planted with plenty of seed
        will grow a nearly worthless amount of grain.

¹¹ Oh, I can’t help but groan for people who rise and drink
    without stopping from early morning to late evening
Until their passions and emotions burn within them.
¹² They entertain themselves with lyres and harps,
    tambourines and flutes, and plenty of wine at their feasts.
But they don’t think for a minute about all the Eternal has done.
    They don’t stop to consider the work of His hands.

¹³ Eternal One: Make no mistake: My people are headed for exile
        because they never took note;
    Even the most honorable among them will endure hunger
        while the majority will be parched with thirst.

¹⁴ Make no mistake: the force of death is insatiable.
    The great gaping grave is opened wide
To swallow whole Jerusalem’s opulence and pageantry—
    her noble citizens and her common folk, all the raucous revelry.
¹⁵ Human beings will be cut down to size, one after another.
    Those who walk around with their noses in the air will be humiliated.
¹⁶ By contrast, the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
    will be high and mighty because He judges fairly.
The holy God will be shown to be so because He does what is right.
¹⁷ At that time, Jerusalem will become a pasture where lambs graze,
    and foreigners will eat in the ruins where the wealthy once dined.

¹⁸ O how terrible for those who drag their guilt around,
    worthlessness and wrongdoing in tow—
¹⁹ They sneer, “Well, where is He? Let Him be quick about it!
    Let’s see this business of the Holy One of Israel;
Let’s see what He has in store so we can know what it is.”
²⁰ O how terrible for those who confuse good with evil,
    right with wrong, light with dark, sweet with bitter.
²¹ O how terrible for those who think they’re so wise,
    who consider themselves so clever.
²² O how terrible for those heroes who can outdrink anyone,
    those champions who take pride in mixing drinks,
²³ Those judges who set the guilty free in exchange for “a little something,”
    all the while denying the innocent what they deserve!