Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 83
Prayer against Enemies
A song. A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be quiet.(B)
2 See how your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have acted arrogantly.[a](C)
3 They devise clever schemes against your people;
they conspire against your treasured ones.(D)
4 They say, “Come, let’s wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”(E)
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like straw before the wind.(A)
14 As fire burns a forest,
as a flame blazes through mountains,(B)
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.(C)
16 Cover their faces with shame
so that they will seek your name, Lord.(D)
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;
let them perish in disgrace.(E)
18 May they know that you alone—
whose name is the Lord—
are the Most High over the whole earth.(F)
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake.(A) 16 Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship[a] me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.”
19 So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand(B) over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.(C) 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
A House Divided
22 Then a demon-possessed man(A) who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man[a] could both speak and see.(B) 23 All the crowds were astounded and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” (C)
24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”(D)
25 Knowing their thoughts,(E) he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan(F) drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.(G) 28 If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.(H) 29 How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up(I) the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. 30 Anyone who is not with me is against me,(J) and anyone who does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore,(K) I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy,(L) but the blasphemy against[b] the Spirit will not be forgiven.[c] 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man,(M) it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.(N)
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