Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of degrees of David.

¹ ¶ If the LORD had not been for us, now may Israel say,

² If the LORD had not been for us, when men rose up against us,

³ then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;

⁴ then the waters would have overwhelmed us; the flood would have gone over our soul;

⁵ then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.

⁶ ¶ Blessed be the LORD, who did not give us as a prey to their teeth.

⁷ Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has broken, and we are escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made the heaven and the earth.

54 ¶ Rejoice, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud with joy, thou that didst not travail with child: for more shall be the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife, said the LORD.

² Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

³ for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

⁴ Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

⁵ For thy Maker shall be thine husband; the LORD of the hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

⁶ ¶ For as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit has the LORD called thee, and as a young woman who is put away, said thy God.

⁷ For a small moment I have forsaken thee; but with great mercies I will gather thee.

⁸ In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with eternal mercy I will have compassion on thee, said the LORD thy Redeemer.

⁹ For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so I have sworn that I would not be wroth again with thee, nor reprehend thee.

¹⁰ For the mountains shall be removed, and the hills shall tremble; but my mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be changed, said the LORD that has mercy on thee.

²³ Then if any man shall say unto you, Behold, here is the Christ, or there, believe it not.

²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in such a manner that they shall deceive, if possible, the very elect.

²⁵ Behold, I have told you before.

²⁶ Therefore if they say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not.

²⁷ For as the lightning that comes out of the east and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

²⁸ For wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken,

³⁰ and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory.

³¹ And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

³² ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh;

³³ so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled.

³⁵ The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.