Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Grieving over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 God, the (A)nations have [a]invaded (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your servants to the birds of the sky as food,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)disgrace before our neighbors,
An object of derision and ridicule to those around us.
5 (H)How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
6 (K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
7 For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [b]settlement.
14 Why are we sitting still?
(A)Assemble yourselves, and let’s (B)go into the fortified cities
And perish there,
For the Lord our God has doomed us
And given us (C)poisoned water to drink,
Because (D)we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We (E)waited for peace, but no good came;
For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16 From (F)Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses;
At the sound of the neighing of his (G)stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and (H)devour the land and its fullness,
The city and its inhabitants.
17 “For behold, I am (I)sending serpents among you,
Vipers for which there is (J)no charm;
And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.
2 [a](A)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are (B)adulterers,
An assembly of (C)treacherous people.
3 “They (D)bend their tongues like their bows;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they (E)proceed from evil to evil,
And they (F)do not know Me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Let everyone (G)be on guard against his neighbor,
And (H)do not trust any brother;
Because every (I)brother utterly [b]betrays,
And every neighbor (J)goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone (K)deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They (L)weary themselves committing wrongdoing.
6 Your (M)dwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they (N)refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says:
“Behold, I will refine them and (O)put them to the test;
For (P)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8 Their (Q)tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one (R)speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he (S)sets an ambush for him.
9 (T)Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up a weeping and wailing for the (U)mountains,
And for the pastures of the (V)wilderness a song of mourning,
Because they are (W)laid waste so that no one passes through,
And the sound of the livestock is not heard;
Both the (X)birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a (Y)heap of ruins,
A haunt of (Z)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a (AA)desolation without inhabitant.”
The Widow’s Coins
41 (A)And Jesus sat down opposite (B)the treasury, and began watching how the [a]people were (C)putting [b]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two [c]lepta coins, which amount to a [d]quadrans. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all [e]the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their [f]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, [g]all she had (D)to live on.”
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