Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 94
1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs;
O God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
render to the proud what they deserve.
3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They spew forth their arrogant words;
all those who do iniquity boast.
5 They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
and afflict Your inheritance.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
neither does the God of Jacob regard it.”
8 Understand, you brutish among the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who made the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who chastises the nations, shall He not correct?
He teaches people knowledge!
11 The Lord, He knows the thoughts of people,
that they are a breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord,
and teach from Your law,
13 that You may give him rest from the days of adversity,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not forsake His people;
neither will He abandon His inheritance.
15 But justice shall return to those who are righteous,
and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against those who do iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
my soul would have lived in the land of silent death.
18 When I said, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, held me up.
19 When there is a multitude of worries within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall wicked rulers, who make oppressive laws,
align with You?
21 They conspire together against the life of the righteous
and condemn innocent blood to death.
22 But the Lord is my defense,
and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 He shall bring upon them their own iniquity
and shall cut them off for their own wickedness;
yes, the Lord our God shall destroy them.
Drought, Famine, and Sword
14 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 Judah mourns,
and the gates languish;
they sit on the ground while mourning,
and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
they came to the cisterns and found no water.
They returned with their vessels empty;
they were ashamed and humiliated,
and covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is chapped,
for there was no rain in the earth,
the plowmen were ashamed;
they have covered their heads.
5 Indeed, the hind also calved in the field
and abandoned her young
because there was no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand in the high places;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no grass.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
do it for Your name’s sake.
Indeed, our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against You.
8 O the Hope of Israel,
its Savior in time of trouble,
why should You be as a stranger in the land,
and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to pitch his tent for a night?
9 Why should You be as a man dismayed,
as a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name.
Do not forsake us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
Even so they have loved to wander;
they have not restrained their feet.
Therefore, the Lord does not accept them;
He will now remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
17 Therefore you will say this word to them:
Let my eyes run down with tears
night and day, and let them not cease;
for the virgin daughter of my people
has been broken with a great blow,
with a very infected wound.
18 If I go out into the field,
I see those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
I see those who are sick with famine!
Indeed, both the prophet and the priest
go about into a land that they do not know.
The People Ask for Mercy
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace,
but there was nothing good;
and for the time of healing,
but there is trouble!
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us. For Your name’s sake,
do not disgrace Your glorious throne.
Remember and do not break
Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore, we will wait upon You,
for You have done all these things.
Peter’s Denial Foretold
31 Then the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have repented, strengthen your brothers.”
33 He said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death.”
Peter’s Denial of Jesus(A)
54 Then they arrested Him, and led Him away, and brought Him into the high priest’s house. Peter followed at a distance. 55 But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant girl saw him as he sat near the fire, and gazed at him, and said, “This man was with Him.”
57 But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
59 About an hour later another man firmly declared, “Certainly, this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” Immediately, while he was yet speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And Peter went outside and wept bitterly.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.