Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 79[a]
A Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.(A)
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of those devoted to you for the beasts of the earth.(B)
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and no one is left to do the burying.(C)
4 We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.(D)
II
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealous anger keep burning like fire?(E)
6 Pour out your wrath on nations that do not recognize you,
on kingdoms that do not call on your name,(F)
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
laid waste his dwelling place.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers;
let your compassion move quickly ahead of us,
for we have been brought very low.(G)
III
9 Help us, God our savior,
on account of the glory of your name.
Deliver us, pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.(H)
Chapter 8
1 At that time—oracle of the Lord—the bones of the kings and princes of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves(A) 2 and spread out before the sun, the moon, and the whole host of heaven,[a] which they loved and served, which they followed, consulted, and worshiped. They will not be gathered up for burial, but will lie like dung upon the ground.(B) 3 Death will be preferred to life by all the survivors of this wicked people who remain in any of the places to which I banish them—oracle of the Lord of hosts.
Israel’s Conduct Incomprehensible
4 Tell them: Thus says the Lord:
When someone falls, do they not rise again?
if they turn away, do they not turn back?
5 Why then do these people resist
with persistent rebellion?
Why do they cling to deception,
refuse to turn back?(C)
6 I have listened closely:
they speak what is not true;
No one regrets wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Everyone keeps on running their course,
like a horse dashing into battle.(D)
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows its seasons;
Turtledove, swift, and thrush
observe the time of their return,
But my people do not know
the order of the Lord.(E)
8 How can you say, “We are wise,(F)
we have the law of the Lord”?
See, that has been changed into falsehood
by the lying pen of the scribes![b]
9 The wise are put to shame,
terrified, and trapped;
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what sort of wisdom do they have?(G)
Shameless in Their Crimes
10 Therefore, I will give their wives to other men,
their fields to new owners.
Small and great alike, all are greedy for gain,
prophet and priest, all practice fraud.(H)
11 They have treated lightly
the injury to the daughter of my people:[c]
“Peace, peace!” they say,
though there is no peace.(I)
12 They have acted shamefully; they have done abominable things,
yet they are not at all ashamed,
they do not know how to blush.
Hence they shall be among those who fall;
in their time of punishment they shall stumble,
says the Lord.(J)
Threats of Punishment
13 I will gather them all in—oracle of the Lord:
no grapes on the vine,
No figs on the fig trees,
foliage withered!
Whatever I have given them is gone.
31 [a]What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?(A) 32 He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?(B) 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us.(C) 34 Who will condemn? It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.(D) 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? 36 As it is written:(E)
“For your sake we are being slain all the day;
we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.(F) 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,[b] nor future things, nor powers,(G) 39 nor height, nor depth,[c] nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.