Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Experience of the Captivity.
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our [b]harps.
3 For there our captors [c](E)demanded of us [d]songs,
And (F)our tormentors, jubilation, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How can we sing (G)the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, Jerusalem,
May my right hand [e]forget its skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [f](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Lord, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Those who said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare
(L)To its foundation!”
8 Daughter of Babylon, you [g](M)devastated one,
Blessed will be one who (N)repays you
With [h]the retribution with which you have repaid us.
9 Blessed will be one who seizes and (O)dashes your children
Against the rock.
16 For these things I (A)weep;
[a]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a (B)comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion (C)stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has (D)commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
(E)Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18 “The Lord is (F)righteous,
For I have (G)rebelled against His [b]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And (H)see my pain;
(I)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 I (J)called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My (K)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to (L)restore their [c]strength themselves.
20 See, Lord, for I am in distress;
My [d](M)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very (N)rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.
21 They have heard that I (O)groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are (P)joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become (Q)like me.
22 May all their wickedness come before You;
And (R)deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”
2 (A)Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter (B)various [a]trials, 3 knowing that (C)the testing of your (D)faith produces [b](E)endurance. 4 And let [c](F)endurance have its perfect [d]result, so that you may be [e](G)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you (H)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [f]without reproach, and (I)it will be given to him. 6 But he must (J)ask in faith (K)without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, (L)driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a [g](M)double-minded man, (N)unstable in all his ways.
9 (O)Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 but the rich person is to glory in his [h]humiliation, because (P)like [i]flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with (Q)its scorching heat and (R)withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.
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