Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Zion Lays Desolate
Aleph
1 How (A)lonely sits the city
That was (B)great with people!
She has become like a (C)widow
Who was once (D)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the [a]provinces
Has become a (E)forced laborer!
Beth
2 She (F)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her (G)lovers.
All her friends have (H)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
Gimel
3 (I)Judah has gone into exile because of affliction
And because of great slavery;
She sits (J)among the nations,
But she has found no rest;
All (K)her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of [b]distress.
Daleth
4 The roads [c]of Zion are in mourning
Because (L)no one comes to the appointed times.
All her gates are (M)desolate;
Her priests are sighing,
Her (N)virgins are grieving,
And she herself [d]is (O)bitter.
He
5 Her adversaries have become [e]her masters;
Her enemies are complacent;
For [f]Yahweh has (P)caused her grief
Because of the greatness of her transgressions;
Her infants have gone away
As captives before the adversary.
Vav
The Lord Will Not Reject Forever
Zayin
19 Remember my affliction and my [a]homelessness, the (A)wormwood and gall.
20 Surely (B)my soul remembers
And is (C)bowed down within me.
21 This I will return to my heart;
Therefore I will (D)wait in hope.
Heth
22 The (E)lovingkindnesses of Yahweh [b]indeed never cease,
(F)For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new (G)every morning;
Great is (H)Your faithfulness.
24 “Yahweh is my (I)portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I (J)wait for Him.”
Teth
We Wept When We Remembered Zion
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and also (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our lyres.
3 For there our captors (E)asked us about the words of a song,
And (F)our tormentors asked joyfully, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song of (G)Yahweh
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [b]forget her skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [c](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Tear it down! Tear it down
(L)To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you (M)devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who (N)repays you
With [d]the recompense with which you have recompensed us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and (O)dashes your infants
Against the cliff.
Guard the Treasure Entrusted to You
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of (B)Christ Jesus [a](C)by the will of God, according to the promise of (D)life in Christ Jesus,
2 To (E)Timothy, my beloved (F)child: (G)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 (H)I am grateful to God, whom I (I)serve with a (J)clear conscience [b]the way my forefathers did, (K)as I unceasingly remember you in my [c]prayers night and day, 4 (L)longing to see you, (M)having remembered your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, 5 [d]being reminded of the (N)unhypocritical faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and (O)your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh (P)the gift of God which is in you through (Q)the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a (R)spirit of [e]timidity, but of power and love and [f]self-discipline.
8 Therefore (S)do not be ashamed of either the (T)witness about our Lord or me (U)His prisoner, but join with me in (V)suffering for the (W)gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has (X)saved us and (Y)called us with a holy (Z)calling, (AA)not according to our works, but according to His own (AB)purpose and grace which was given to us in (AC)Christ Jesus from (AD)all eternity, 10 but (AE)now has been manifested by the (AF)appearing of our Savior (AG)Christ Jesus, who (AH)abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 (AI)for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but (AJ)I am not ashamed; for I know (AK)whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to (AL)guard what I have entrusted to Him [g]until (AM)that day. 13 [h](AN)Hold to the (AO)standard of (AP)sound words (AQ)which you have heard from me, in the (AR)faith and love which are in (AS)Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who (AT)dwells in us, the [i](AU)treasure which has been entrusted to you.
5 (A)And the apostles said to (B)the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And (C)the Lord said, “If you have faith like (D)a mustard seed, you would say to this (E)mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would [a]obey you.
7 “But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and [b]sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not say to him, ‘(F)Prepare something for me to eat, and, [c]clothing yourself properly, serve me while I eat and drink; and [d]afterward you [e]may eat and drink’? 9 Is he grateful to the slave because he did the things which were commanded? 10 In this way, you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
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