Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 123[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
123 I look up[c] toward you,
the one enthroned[d] in heaven.
2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,[e]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.[f]
4 We have had our fill[g]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
The End of an Era
6 When Joshua dismissed[a] the people, the Israelites went to their allotted portions of territory,[b] intending to take possession of the land. 7 The people worshiped[c] the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men[d] who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed[e] all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.[f] 8 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of 110. 9 The people[g] buried him in his allotted land[h] in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10 That entire generation passed away;[i] a new generation grew up[j] that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.[k]
A Monotonous Cycle
11 The Israelites did evil before[l] the Lord by worshiping[m] the Baals. 12 They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors[n] who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods—the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped[o] them and made the Lord angry. 13 They abandoned the Lord and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths.[p]
14 The Lord was furious with Israel[q] and handed them over to robbers who plundered them.[r] He turned them over to[s] their enemies who lived around them. They could no longer withstand their enemies’ attacks.[t] 15 Whenever they went out to fight,[u] the Lord did them harm,[v] just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do.[w] They suffered greatly.[x]
The Bowls of God’s Wrath
16 Then[a] I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.”[b] 2 So[c] the first angel[d] went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then[e] ugly and painful sores[f] appeared on the people[g] who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
3 Next,[h] the second angel[i] poured out his bowl on the sea and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.
4 Then[j] the third angel[k] poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 Now[l] I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“You are just[m]—the one who is and who was,
the Holy One—because you have passed these judgments,[n]
6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets,
so[o] you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!”[p]
7 Then[q] I heard the altar reply,[r] “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful,[s] your judgments are true and just!”
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