Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A sad song[a]
137 When we sat down beside the rivers in Babylon,
we were very upset.
We thought about Zion city that we had left behind,
and we wept.[b]
2 We hung up our harps there
on the branches of the willow trees.
3 Our enemies asked us to sing songs for them there.
They laughed at us as their prisoners.
They asked for a song to make them happy.
They shouted, ‘Sing us a song about Zion!’
4 But we are in a foreign land,
so we cannot sing a song to the Lord.
5 Jerusalem, I never want to forget you.
I would rather lose my right hand!
6 I would rather my tongue could no longer move![c]
Yes, I will always remember you, Jerusalem.
You are the most important thing that I think about,
more than anything else that makes me happy.
7 Lord, remember to punish the people of Edom.[d]
They were happy when Babylon's army won against Jerusalem.
On that day the Edomites said,
‘Knock down the city so that nothing still stands!’
8 People of Babylon, an army will soon destroy you!
They will punish you in the same way that you punished us.
May God bless whoever does that to you!
9 Just like you did to us,
they will hit your babies against a rock.
May God bless whoever does that to you!
A prayer[a]
5 Lord, please remember the trouble that has happened to us.
Look at us, because we are ashamed.
2 Strangers have taken the land that our ancestors gave to us.
Foreign people live in our homes.
3 We are children whose fathers have died.
Our mothers no longer have husbands.
4 We must pay money for the water that we drink.
We must buy wood for our fires.
5 Our enemies cause us to work like animals.
But the work is too difficult
and they will not let us rest.
6 We gave ourselves to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians,
so that we could get food to eat.
7 Our ancestors sinned, but they are dead.
Now we have the troubles that you caused because of them.
You punished us because of their sin.[b]
8 Slaves now rule us.
And there is nobody to save us from their power.
9 We meet danger when we work in the fields.[c]
Enemies are everywhere and they want to kill us.
10 Our skin feels as if we are burning.
We are so hungry that we are ill.
11 Enemies do what they want with the women in Zion.
They are cruel to the young women in Judah's cities.
12 They hang our leaders by their hands.
And they are cruel to our old men too.
13 They took the young men to make flour for them, like slaves.
Our boys have to carry heavy bags of wood.
14 Our enemies no longer let our old men decide things.[d]
The old men cannot say what is right or fair for us.
And the young men have stopped their music.
15 We are not happy any longer.
Instead, we are very sad,
so we do not dance any longer.
16 And we have no king in Jerusalem any longer.
We have sinned, so it will be very bad for us.
17 So our bodies feel ill and we feel ill deep inside us.
Our eyes are very tired and we cannot hope for good things any longer.
18 We are so sad because they destroyed Zion's walls and buildings.
Wild animals walk on them now.
19 But you, Lord, will be king for ever.
You will always rule us.
20 Tell us why you have forgotten us.
Tell us why you have left us alone for so long.
21 Help us to come back to you, Lord.
Let us be great again, like we were long ago.
22 Please do that, unless you have turned away from us completely.
Do not continue to be angry with us more than we can take.[e]
A tree without fruit
12 On the next day, they left Bethany. Jesus was hungry. 13 He saw a fig tree which was a long way away. There were leaves on it. So he went to see if it had fruit on it. When he reached it, he found nothing except leaves. That was because it was not the right season for it to have fruit. 14 So Jesus said to the tree, ‘Nobody will ever eat your fruit again.’ And his disciples heard what he said.
The fig tree is dead
20 The next morning, Jesus and his disciples passed the fig tree. They saw that it was completely dead. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said. So he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, look at that fig tree. You said that it should die, and it has died.’
22 So Jesus said to them, ‘You must believe in God. 23 I tell you this: A person could say to this mountain, “Move and throw yourself into the sea.” Then it will happen like he says. But he must not let other ideas come into his mind. He must really believe that those things will happen. If he does believe it, God will do those things for him. 24 So I tell you this. When you pray to ask God for anything, believe in him. Believe that you have received that thing. Then you will have whatever you have asked for.
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