Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 137[a]
137 By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep[b]
when we remember Zion.
2 On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs;[c]
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:[d]
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”[e]
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled.[f]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy.[g]
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.[h]
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,[i]
right to its very foundation!”
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated,[j]
how blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us.[k]
9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock.[l]
The People of Jerusalem Pray
5 [a] O Lord, reflect on[b] what has happened to us;
consider[c] and look at[d] our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance[e] is turned over to strangers;
foreigners now occupy our homes.[f]
3 We have become fatherless orphans;
our mothers have become widows.
4 We must pay money[g] for our own water;[h]
we must buy our own wood at a steep price.[i]
5 We are pursued—they are breathing down our necks;[j]
we are weary and have no rest.[k]
6 We have submitted[l] to Egypt and Assyria
in order to buy food to eat.[m]
7 Our forefathers[n] sinned and are dead,[o]
but we[p] suffer[q] their punishment.[r]
8 Slaves[s] rule over us;
there is no one to rescue us from their power.[t]
9 At the risk[u] of our lives[v] we get our food[w]
because robbers lurk[x] in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is as hot as an oven
due to a fever from hunger.[y]
11 They raped[z] women in Zion,
virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by their hands;
elders were mistreated.[aa]
13 The young men perform menial labor;[ab]
boys stagger from their labor.[ac]
14 The elders are gone from the city gate;
the young men have stopped playing their music.
15 Our hearts no longer have any joy;[ad]
our dancing is turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this, our hearts are sick;[ae]
because of these things, we can hardly see[af] through our tears.[ag]
18 For wild animals[ah] are prowling over Mount Zion,
which lies desolate.
19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why do you keep on forgetting[ai] us?
Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Bring us back to yourself, O Lord, so that we may return[aj] to you;
renew our life[ak] as in days before,[al]
22 unless[am] you have utterly rejected us[an]
and are angry with us beyond measure.[ao]
Cursing of the Fig Tree
12 Now[a] the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit[b] on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it,[c] “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.[d]
The Withered Fig Tree
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth,[a] if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
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