Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 63

A psalm of David, when he was in the Judean desert.

³⁴ the cloud covered the meeting tent and the Lord’s glorious presence filled the dwelling. ³⁵ Moses couldn’t enter the meeting tent because the cloud had settled on it, and the Lord’s glorious presence filled the dwelling. ³⁶ Whenever the cloud rose from the dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journeys. ³⁷ But if the cloud didn’t rise, then they didn’t set out until the day it rose. ³⁸ The Lord’s cloud stayed over the dwelling during the day, with lightning in it at night, clearly visible to the whole household of Israel at every stage of their journey.

Babylon’s fall

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was filled with light because of his glory. ² He called out with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a home for demons and a lair for every unclean spirit. She is a lair for every unclean bird, and a lair for every unclean and disgusting beast ³ because all the nations have fallen^[a] due to the wine of her lustful passion. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich from the power of her loose and extravagant ways.”

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t take part in her sins and don’t receive any of her plagues. ⁵ Her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God remembered her unjust acts. ⁶ Give her what she has given to others. Give her back twice as much for what she has done. In the cup that she has poured, pour her twice as much. ⁷ To the extent that she glorified herself and indulged her loose and extravagant ways, give her pain and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit like a queen! I’m not a widow. I’ll never see grief.’ ⁸ This is why her plagues will come in a single day—deadly disease, grief, and hunger. She will be consumed by fire because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.

⁹ “The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and shared her loose and extravagant ways, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. ¹⁰ They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of the pain she suffers, and they will say, ‘Oh, the horror! Babylon, you great city, you powerful city! In a single hour your judgment has come.’

¹⁹ They threw dust on their heads, and they cried out, weeping and mourning. They said, ‘Oh, the horror! The great city, where all who have ships at sea became so rich by her prosperity—in just one hour she was destroyed. ²⁰ Rejoice over her, heaven—you saints, apostles, and prophets—because God has condemned her as she condemned you.’”