Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song for going up to worship.
123 I look up to you,
to the one who sits enthroned in heaven.
2 As servants depend on their masters,
as a maid depends on her mistress,
so we depend on the Lord our God
until he has pity on us.
3 Have pity on us, O Lord.
Have pity on us
because we have suffered more than our share of contempt.
4 We have suffered more than our share of ridicule
from those who are carefree.
We have suffered more than our share of contempt
from those who are arrogant.
The Death of Joshua
6 Now, Joshua sent the people of Israel home. So each family went to take possession of the territory they had inherited. 7 The people served the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who had outlived him and who had seen all the spectacular works the Lord had done for Israel. 8 The Lord’s servant Joshua, son of Nun, died at the age of 110. 9 He was buried at Timnath Heres within the territory he had inherited. This was in the mountains of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 10 That whole generation had joined their ancestors in death. So another generation grew up after them. They had no personal experience with the Lord or with what he had done for Israel.
The Sin of the Next Generation
11 The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. They began to serve other gods—the Baals. 12 The Israelites abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of Egypt. They followed the other gods of the people around them. They worshiped these gods, and that made the Lord angry. 13 They abandoned the Lord to serve the god Baal and the goddess Astarte. 14 So the Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He handed them over to people who robbed them. He also used their enemies around them to defeat them. They could no longer stand up against their enemies. 15 Whenever the Israelites went to war, the power of the Lord brought disaster on them. This was what the Lord said he would do in an oath. So he made them suffer a great deal.
The Seven Angels Pour Out Their Bowls
16 I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Pour the seven bowls of God’s anger over the earth.”
2 The first angel poured his bowl over the earth. Horrible, painful sores appeared on the people who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue.
3 The second angel poured his bowl over the sea. The sea turned into blood like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured his bowl over the rivers and the springs. They turned into blood. 5 Then I heard the angel of the water say,
“You are fair.
You are the one who is and the one who was, the holy one,
because you have judged these things.
6 You have given them blood to drink
because they have poured out
the blood of God’s people and prophets.
This is what they deserve.”
7 Then I heard the altar answer,
“Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true and fair.”
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