Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
74 God, why have you abandoned us forever?
Why does your anger smolder
at the sheep of your own pasture?
2 Remember your congregation
that you took as your own long ago,
that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 March to the unending ruins,
to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
they set up their own signs there!
5 It looked like axes raised
against a thicket of trees.[b]
6 And then all its carvings
they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7 They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8 They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9 We don’t see our own signs anymore.
No prophet is left.
And none of us know how long it will last.
10 How long, God, will foes insult you?
Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11 Why do you pull your hand back?
Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13 You split the sea with your power.
You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14 You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15 You split open springs and streams;
you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16 The day belongs to you! The night too!
You established both the moon and the sun.
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
Summer and winter? You made them!
18 So remember this, Lord:
how enemies have insulted you,
how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19 Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20 Consider the covenant!
Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22 God, rise up! Make your case!
Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23 Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
the racket of your adversaries that never quits.
Scattered people return
27 On that day, the Lord will take a great sword, harsh and mighty, and will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the writhing serpent, and will kill the dragon that is in the sea. 2 On that day:
Sing about a delightful vineyard!
3 I, the Lord, am its guardian.
Every moment I water it;
night and day I guard it from attack.
4 I’m not angry,
but if it yields thorns and thistles for me,
I will march to battle against it;
I will torch it completely.
5 Or let them[a] cling to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me;
let them make peace with me.
6 In coming days,[b]
Jacob will take root;
Israel will blossom and sprout
and fill the whole world with produce.
7 Did God strike Israel as he struck those who struck him?
Was Israel killed as his killers were killed?[c]
8 By frightening Jerusalem, by sending her away,[d]
you contended with her,
expelling with a fierce blast
on the day of the east wind.
9 By this Jacob’s guilt is reconciled,
and this was how his sins were finally removed:
he made all the altar stones like shattered chalk,
sacred poles[e] and incense altars that couldn’t stand.
10 The fortified city lies alone,
a hut forsaken,
abandoned like the desert.
Calves graze there;
they lie down there and feed on its boughs.
11 When its branches are dry, they are broken.
Women come and set fire to it.
These people have no understanding;
therefore, their maker won’t have compassion;
the one who formed them won’t be gracious.
12 On that day, the Lord will beat grain from the channel of the Euphrates up to the Valley of Egypt. You will be collected, Israelites, one by one. 13 On that day, a great trumpet will be played. Those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come. They will bow to the Lord at his holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Jesus clears the temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple, he threw out those who were selling things there. 46 He said to them, “It’s written, My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a hideout for crooks.”[a]
47 Jesus was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests, the legal experts, and the foremost leaders among the people were seeking to kill him. 48 However, they couldn’t find a way to do it because all the people were enthralled with what they heard.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible