Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^[b]If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel now proclaim—^[c]
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
    when our enemies attacked^[d] us,
^3 [e]then they would have swallowed us alive
    as their wrath was kindled against us.
^4 [f]The waters would have washed us away,
    the torrent would have swept over us,
⁵ and we would have drowned
    in the raging waters.
⁶ Blessed be the Lord,
    who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
⁷ We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare was broken,
    and we escaped.^[g]
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.^[h]

² “Gather and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
³ “Reuben, you are the firstborn,
    my strength and the firstfruit of my might,
    excelling in dignity and excelling in power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence
    because you invaded your father’s bed
    and defiled my couch
    upon which you climbed.
⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    their swords are implements of violence.
⁶ Let my soul not come into their council
    nor my heart into their assembly,
for they have killed men with anger
    and they maimed oxen as they pleased.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
    and their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob
    and disperse them in Israel.
⁸ “Judah, your brothers shall praise you.
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
The sons of your father shall bow down before you.
⁹ A young lion is Judah.
    From the prey, my son, you have turned.
He crouches like a lion,
    and like a lioness;
    who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah
    nor the mace from between his feet,
until it comes to whom it belongs,
    and the obedience of the peoples is his.
¹¹ He tethers his colt to the vine,
    and to a choice vine the colt of his donkey.
He washes his garments in wine,
    and in the blood of the grapes his clothes.
¹² His eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.
¹³ “Zebulun shall dwell along the sea,
    and he shall be a haven to ships
    and shall border upon Sidon.
¹⁴ “Issachar is a strong-boned donkey
    crouching between two saddlebags.
¹⁵ He saw that his resting place was good
    and his land was pleasant
so he bent down his shoulder to bear the burden
    and became a toiling servant.
¹⁶ “Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷ Dan will be like a serpent by the wayside,
    an adder by the path,
that bites the heels of horses
    and its horsemen fall backward.
¹⁸ “I hope in your salvation, O Lord.
¹⁹ “Gad shall be attacked by raiders,
    but he shall raid them in return.
²⁰ “Asher’s food is rich,
    and he shall provide delicacies for the king.
²¹ “Naphtali is a doe let loose;
    he brings forth beautiful words.
²² “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches run over the wall.
²³ They have grieved him and attacked him,
    archers have persecuted him,
²⁴ but his bow is strong,
    and the hands of his arms were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
²⁵ From the God of your father who helps you
    and God Almighty
who blesses you with blessings from the heavens above,
    blessings of the deep that lie below,
    blessings of breasts and womb.
²⁶ The blessings of your father,
    are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains,
    the boundaries of the everlasting hills;
may they come upon the head of Joseph
    upon the crown of the head of the prince among his brothers.
²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
    In the morning he devours his prey;
    in the evening he divides his spoil.”