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October 3, 2022

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 137

Psalm 137^[a]

The Exiles’ Remembrance of Zion

¹By the rivers^[b] of Babylon
    we sat down and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
²^[c]There on the poplars
    we hung up our harps.
³For it was there that our captors
    asked us to sing them a song,
and, tormenting us, demanded a joyful song:
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
⁴But how could we sing songs of the Lord
    while living in a foreign land?^[d]
⁵^[e]If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    may my right hand fail me.
⁶May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not regard Jerusalem
    as the greatest of my joys.
⁷^[f]Remember, O Lord, the cruelty of the Edomites
    on the day when Jerusalem fell,^[g]
how they shouted, “Tear it down!
    Tear it down to its very foundations!”
⁸O Daughter^[h] of Babylon, you destroyer,
    happy will he be who repays you
    for the suffering you inflicted upon us!
⁹Happy will he be who seizes your babies
    and smashes them against a rock!^[i]

Footnotes

Psalm 137:1 Let us imagine the setting in which this psalm was sung for the first time. Some Levites, after returning from the Exile, have gathered for a penitential liturgy. They are unable to suppress the memory of the humiliations they suffered on the banks of the Euphrates, where, to heighten their sadness, they were compelled not to sing the songs they loved, since it would have been a profanation to make these known in a foreign land for the amusement of idolaters. Now their cry of attachment to Jerusalem becomes vehement and their song leads to an outburst of vengeful anger that, though in keeping with the custom of the time, seems to us cruel beyond description (see notes on Pss 5:11; 35).
Events now in the distant past become symbols; the psalm speaks of Edom, but the singers think of all the forces united to destroy the People of God and the righteous; the psalm mentions Babylon, but this suggests the most hateful wickedness. This same wickedness the Book of Revelation will later image forth in the monstrous figure of “Babylon the Great,” mother of blasphemers (see Rev 17:5).
We can pray this psalm as citizens of heaven (see Phil 3:20) living in exile on earth (see 2 Cor 5:6f). Strangers to a world that does not acknowledge us as its own, we are hated and persecuted by it for this reason (see Jn 15:18f; 17:14-18). We are cognizant that our exile deprives us of our true home and our Father and dooms us to divers physical and moral miseries including death, and we “groan inwardly as we wait for . . . the redemption of our bodies” (Rom 8:23).
Psalm 137:1 Rivers: the Euphrates and Tigris, as well as the numerous irrigation-canals that branched off from them (see Ezr 8:21; Ezek 1:1; 3:15). Sat: the posture of mourning (see Job 2:8, 13; Lam 2:10); it could also refer to the idea of being settled in accord with the word of the prophet Jeremiah who urged the exiles to work for a living, to multiply, and to seek the peace and prosperity of the land (see Jer 29:4-9). Wept: see Isa 24:8; Jer 25:10; Lam 3:48; 5:14.
Psalm 137:2 The exiles were tauntingly requested to sing the songs of Zion on their harps. The taunts were tantamount to the question “Where is your God?” (Pss 42:4, 11; 79:10; 115:2), and might have concerned the “songs of Zion” that celebrated the Lord’s majesty and protection (see Pss 46; 48; 76; 84; 87; 122).
Psalm 137:4 The exiles could not bring themselves to sing any of the holy songs while they rested on foreign, unclean soil; that would be a profanation (see Hos 9:3; Am 7:17).
Psalm 137:5 The exiles could not forget Jerusalem and what it symbolized: covenant, temple, God’s presence and kingship, atonement, forgiveness, and reconciliation. They vowed to wait for the redemption promised by God.
Psalm 137:7 See notes on Pss 5:11; 35.
Psalm 137:7 On the day when Jerusalem fell: literally, “the day of Jerusalem” or “that day at Jerusalem.” The “day” in question is either the ninth day of the fourth month (June–July 587 B.C.) when the Babylonians broke through the walls of Jerusalem (see Jer 39:2; 52:7) or the tenth day of the fifth month (July–August 587 B.C.) when the temple was set afire (see Jer 52:12; Zec 7:5; 8:19). The Edomites collaborated with the besiegers and did everything they could to disgrace Judah and keep the people from escaping (see Lam 4:21f; Ezek 25:12; 35:12; Ob 11), and their name became a symbol of Israel’s enemies, as well as an object of the Lord’s judgments (see Isa 63:1-4; Jer 49:7-22; Ezek 25:8, 12-14; 35; Ob 1-21).
Psalm 137:8 Daughter: a personification of Babylon, on whom the Lord had passed judgment (see Isa 13; 21:1-10; 47; Jer 50–51; Hab 2:4-20).
Psalm 137:9 Happy will he be who seizes . . . : in accord with the ruthless practice of ancient warfare, this scene was often played out during the sacking of a city after its fall (see 2 Ki 8:12; 15:16; Isa 13:16, 18; Hos 10:14; 14:1; Am 1:13; Nah 3:10). A beatitude is here transformed into a terrible curse.

Lamentations 1:16-22

¹⁶This is why I weep
    and my eyes flow with tears.
Anyone who could comfort and strengthen me
    is far from my presence.
My children are desolate,
    for the enemy has prevailed.
¹⁷Zion stretches out her hands
    but there is no one to comfort her
The Lord has commanded the neighbors of Jacob
    to become his enemies.
In their midst Jerusalem has become
    an unclean thing to be avoided.
¹⁸The Lord has acted justly,
    for I rebelled against his command.
Listen, all you peoples,
    and behold my suffering.
My maidens and my youths
    have been taken into captivity.
¹⁹I called out to my allies
    but they failed me.
My priests and my elders
    perished in the city
where they searched for food
    to keep themselves alive.
²⁰Behold, O Lord, how great is my distress.
    My inner being is in turmoil.
My heart recoils within me
    because I have been so rebellious.
In the streets the sword causes bereavement;
    in the houses death reigns.
²¹People have heard my groans,
    but no one has offered to comfort me.
All my enemies have learned of my troubles,
    and they are pleased at what you have done.
Hasten the day^[a] you have proclaimed
    so that they may become like me.
²²Let all their wicked deeds come before you,
    and deal with them
as you have dealt with me
    because of all my sins.
My groans never cease,
    and I am sick at heart.

James 1:2-11

Exhortation To Practice Patience

Trials—the Test of a Faith in Progress.^[a] ²My brethren, consider it a cause of great joy whenever you endure various trials, ³for you know that the testing of your faith will develop perseverance. ⁴And let perseverance complete its work so that you may become perfect and complete, and not be deficient in any respect.

A Believer’s Prayer.^[b] ⁵If someone among you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But he is to ask with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. ⁷A man like that should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸since he is of two minds and inconsistent in everything he does.

Rich and Poor.^[c] ⁹The brother who is in modest circumstances should take pride in being raised up. ¹⁰Likewise, the one who is rich should glory in being brought low, for he will disappear like a flower of the field. ¹¹Once the sun comes up with its scorching rays and withers the grass, its flower droops and its beauty vanishes. So too the rich man will fade away in the midst of his affairs.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 137[a]

The Exiles’ Remembrance of Zion

Footnotes

Footnotes

Exhortation To Practice Patience

Footnotes

Psalm 137^[a]