Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A psalm of Asaph.
79 God, an army from the nations has attacked your land.
They have polluted your holy temple.
They have completely destroyed Jerusalem.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your people.
They have left them as food for the birds in the sky.
They have left the bodies of your faithful people.
They have left them for the wild animals.
3 They have poured out the blood of your people like water.
It is all around Jerusalem.
No one is left to bury the dead.
4 We are something our neighbors joke about.
The nations around us laugh at us and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will you be angry with us? Will it be forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Bring your great anger against the nations
that don’t pay any attention to you.
Bring it against the kingdoms
that don’t worship you.
7 They have swallowed up the people of Jacob.
They have destroyed Israel’s homeland.
8 Don’t hold against us the sins of our people who lived before us.
May you be quick to show us your tender love.
We are in great need.
9 God our Savior, help us.
Then glory will come to you.
Save us and forgive our sins.
Then people will honor your name.
14 Why are we sitting here?
Let’s gather together!
Let’s run to the cities that have high walls around them!
Let’s die there!
The Lord our God has sentenced us to death.
He has given us poisoned water to drink.
That’s because we’ve sinned against him.
15 We hoped peace would come.
But nothing good has happened to us.
We hoped we would finally be healed.
But there is only terror.
16 When our enemy’s horses snort,
the noise is heard all the way from the city of Dan.
When their stallions neigh,
the whole land trembles with fear.
They have come to destroy
the land and everything in it.
The city and everyone who lives there will be destroyed.
17 “People of Judah, I will send poisonous snakes among you.
No one will be able to charm them.
And they will bite you,”
announces the Lord.
2 I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert
where a traveler could stay!
Then I could leave my people.
I could get away from them.
All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods.
They aren’t faithful to the Lord.
3 “They get ready to use
their tongues like bows,”
announces the Lord.
“Their mouths shoot out lies like arrows.
They tell lies to gain power in the land.
They go from one sin to another.
They do not pay any attention to me.
4 Be on guard against your friends.
Do not trust the members of your own family.
Every one of them cheats.
Every friend tells lies.
5 One friend cheats another.
No one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues how to lie.
They wear themselves out sinning.
6 Jeremiah, you live among people who tell lies.
When they lie, they refuse to pay any attention to me,”
announces the Lord.
7 So the Lord who rules over all says,
“I will put them through the fire to test them.
What else can I do?
My people are so sinful!
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They tell lies.
With their mouths all of them speak kindly to their neighbors.
But in their hearts they set traps for them.
9 Shouldn’t I punish them for this?”
announces the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I pay back the nation
that does these things?”
10 I will cry and mourn over the mountains.
I will sing a song of sadness about the desert grasslands.
They are dry and empty. No one travels through them.
The mooing of cattle isn’t heard there.
The birds have flown away.
All the animals are gone.
11 The Lord says, “I will knock down all of Jerusalem’s buildings.
I will make it a home for wild dogs.
The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed.
No one will be able to live in them.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies.
43 Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44 They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”
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