Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 79
A song of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations around us have raided the land that belongs to You;
they have defiled Your holy house
and crushed Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 Your servants are dead;
birds of the air swoop down to pick at their remains.
Scavengers of the earth eat what is left of Your saints.
3 The enemy poured out their blood;
it flowed like water
all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one left, no one to bury what remains of them.
4 The surrounding peoples taunt us.
We are nothing but a joke to them, people to be ridiculed.
The Book of Psalms records both the highs and lows in the lives of God’s covenant people. Psalm 79 is an example of a communal lament after the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of God’s temple. Songs like these address God with a complaint resulting from some sort of national tragedy.
Communal laments share a common structure. First, the singers address God and tell Him of their problems. Second, they beg Him for help and express trust that He will answer them, often remembering how He has saved Israel in the past. Finally, the singers promise to praise God once He has resolved their problem. The specifics of the situation determine the thrust of the song. Communal laments are often the people’s poetic and practical response to their perception of God’s inaction in their affairs.
5 How long can this go on, O Eternal One?
Will You stay angry at us forever?
Your jealousy burning like wildfire?
6 Flood these outsiders with Your wrath—
they have no knowledge of You!
Drown the kingdoms of this world
that call on false gods and not on Your name.
7 For these nations devoured Jacob, consumed him,
and turned his home into a wasteland.
8 Do not hold the sins of our ancestors against us,
but send Your compassion to meet us quickly, God.
We are in deep despair.
9 Help us, O God who saves us,
to the honor and glory of Your name.
Pull us up, deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for Your name’s sake.
Some people in the land believe they know God’s ways, but they don’t. In fact, the ways they twist God’s words and perform empty rituals only make things worse. Over and over again, prophets such as Jeremiah have attempted to describe the devastation that will result from the actions of those who refuse to listen to and really know God. As the invading army comes across the borders, some realize that what God has said—what the prophet has spoken in His name—is all coming true. God may long to bring His people close, to forgive and restore them, but it will not happen. They have refused both His forgiveness and His final warning, and so the enemy from the north is on the move.
14 People: Why are we still sitting here, exposed and waiting for death to come?
Let’s get together and run to the walled cities and die there.
We are without hope because the Eternal our God has pronounced our judgment.
He has given us a cup[a] of bitter poison to drink because we have sinned against Him.
15 We were counting on peace, but none came.
We waited for a time of healing, but now all we have is terror.
16 We can hear the snorts of their warhorses as they charge into Dan;
at the thunder of their hoofs and noise of their neighs the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour us—our land and everything in it,
the city and all her citizens.
17 Eternal One: Look, I have released an army of serpents against you;
they slither like vipers across the land.
There is no hope of charming them.
There is no escape from their deadly bite.
2 O that I had a place in the desert I could run to,
a haven for travelers.
Then I could leave my people,
for they are all an adulterous and treacherous lot.
3 Eternal One: With tongues bent like bows they shoot their lies at one another.
Truth does not win out in this land; deceit always seems to triumph.
One evil leads to another because they don’t know who I am.
4 Let everyone be careful of his neighbor,
and think twice before he trusts his brothers;
For every brother is ready to cheat and deceive;
every neighbor is prepared to lie when it suits him.
5 In this land of liars, friends have no misgivings about deceiving one another;
no one even thinks to tell the truth.
They’ve trained their tongues to utter lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
6 Jeremiah, you live in a place where deception is assumed;
as their lies pile up, they refuse to acknowledge Me.
7 Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say:
Eternal One: Watch, I will refine this nation and put them to the test.
What else can I do with My people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
they speak such lies;
Each one leads his neighbor with kind words
into a trap that was already set.
9 Should I not punish them for what they do?
Should I not repay a nation that acts this way?
10 Jeremiah: I will weep bitterly for the mountains of my homeland
and grieve for the death of her wild meadows.
For they have become a silent wasteland
where no one dares to travel.
Pastures once filled with the lowing of cattle, now are empty and lifeless.
All the animals have fled; even the birds have left the sky.
11 Eternal One: I will leave Jerusalem in ruins;
her rubble will be the haunt of jackals.
I will wreak the same havoc on the cities of Judah;
no person will be found there.
41 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, where people came to bring their offerings, and He watched as they came and went. Many rich people threw in large sums of money, 42 but a poor widow came and put in only two small coins[a] worth only a fraction of a cent.[b]
Jesus (calling His disciples together): 43 Truly this widow has given a greater gift than any other contribution. 44 All the others gave a little out of their great abundance, but this poor woman has given God everything she has.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.