Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This psalm is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
We trust God to save us[a]
65 God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion.
There, we will offer to you
the gifts that we have promised.
2 You answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you,
3 because of our many sins.
Our sins are too heavy for us to carry,
but you forgive the bad things that we do against you.[b]
4 You have blessed each person that you have chosen.
You let them live near to you in your home.
The good things that are in your holy temple
will make us very happy!
5 God, you are the one who saves us!
You answer our prayers,
and you do great things to rescue us.
People from everywhere on earth trust in you,
even those who live far away across the seas.
6 You used your power to make the mountains,
and you showed how strong you are.
7 You stop the seas from being angry,
so that their waters make no noise.[c]
You do the same with the angry nations.
8 People who live far away see
the great things that you have done.
It makes them afraid.
Everywhere on earth, east and west,
people sing happy songs to praise you.
9 You take care of the land.
You send rain to make the earth good for plants.
Your rivers are full of water.
You cause the earth to give good crops
so that the people have grain to eat.
10 When people plough their fields,
you send rain to make the earth wet.
You make the ground soft with the rain,
so that crops grow there.
11 Every year at harvest time,
you bless people with lots of good things.
Everywhere that you go,
there is plenty of food.[d]
12 Fresh grass covers the fields in the wilderness.
There are plenty of good things all over the hills,
so that people are very happy.
13 The fields are full of sheep.
The valleys are covered with crops.
Everywhere seems to shout and sing for joy!
Locusts eat all the plants in Israel
1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Joel, son of Pethuel.[a]
2 You older men, hear this! Listen, all people who live in this country.
Nothing like this has happened while you have been alive.
Nothing like this happened while your ancestors were alive.
3 Tell this to your children.
And they must tell it to their children.
And their children must tell it to their own children.
4 The great locusts have eaten what the big group of locusts left.
The young locusts have eaten what the great locusts left.
Other locusts have eaten what the young locusts left.
5 Wake up, you who have drunk too much wine!
Cry, all people who drink wine!
Cry because you will have no new wine.
Someone has taken it away from you.
6 A strong army has marched into my land.
It is powerful, and great in numbers.
It has the teeth of a strong animal.
And the teeth are long and dangerous.
7 It has broken my vines.
It has destroyed my fig trees.
It has eaten the outside of the trees.
It has thrown them away.
It has left their branches white.
8 Cry like a girl that no man ever loved.
She is crying because her promised husband is dead.
9 There will be no more gifts of food or drink.
They will not reach the house of the Lord.
The priests, the servants of the Lord,
are very, very sad.
10 Nobody can use the fields.
They are all dry.
The new wine has all gone.
The oil has all gone.
11 You farmers, you cry.
You who grow vines, cry.
Be sad for the seeds that are food.
Be sad because the fields are dry. And the plants have died.
12 The vine has become dry,
and the fig tree is dead.
The apple trees and other fruit trees,
all the trees have no more fruit.
Men have no more joy.
It has all gone.
Joel tells people to be sad about their sins
13 You priests, wear clothes that are not comfortable.
That will show that you are sad.
You cry, you who serve the Lord in his temple.
Come, you who serve in front of my God.
Sleep in the clothes that are not comfortable.
Cry for the gifts of food and drink.
Cry because they do not come to the house of your God any longer.
14 Tell everyone that they must not eat any food.
Tell the people that they must all come to hear the Lord.
Speak to the older leaders,
and all the people who live in this country.
Tell them that they must all come.
They must come to the house of the Lord your God
and they must shout out to the Lord.
15 Be afraid because of that day.
Be afraid because the day of the Lord is near.
It will be as if the great God would destroy everything.
16 No food has come.
We saw this with our own eyes.
The house of our God cannot make us happy.
17 The seeds under the earth are dry.
The places where they were stored have fallen down.
Someone has broken them up
because the seed does not grow.
18 The cows make a sad noise.
They all move about
because they cannot find any grass.
Even groups of sheep are hungry.
19 I speak to you, my Lord.
Fire has destroyed the grass in the wilderness,
and it has burned up all the trees.
20 Even the wild animals are thirsty and they want your help.
The rivers have no water in them.
Fire has destroyed the fields in the wilderness.
People will turn away from God in the last days
3 Let me tell you this. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble. 2 People will love only themselves, and they will want lots of money for themselves. They will be proud and they will say how great they are. They will insult other people. They will not obey their parents. They will not thank anyone who helps them. They will not respect anything that is good. 3 They will not be kind to other people, but they will like to quarrel. They will tell lies to hurt other people. They will be unable to control themselves properly. They will be cruel and they will hate anything that is good. 4 People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things. They will boast that they are very important. They will not love God, but instead they will only want to enjoy themselves. 5 Those people will seem to be serving God. But really they refuse to accept God's power to help them. You must stay away from people like that.
6 Among those people, there are some men who find a way into people's homes. They get power over silly women who feel very guilty about their sins. Those women want to do wrong things and they cannot stop themselves. 7 They are always trying to learn new things, but they can never really understand God's true message. 8 These are people who speak against God's true message, in the same way that Jannes and Jambres spoke against Moses.[a] Their minds have become confused. The way that they serve God is false. 9 But they will not continue to do many more bad things. Everyone will see clearly that they are fools. That is what happened to Jannes and Jambres.
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