Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 123
The Eyes of a Servant
Heading
A song of the ascents.
The Eyes of a Servant
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
to you who are seated in heaven.
2 Indeed, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he shows us his grace.
3 Show grace to us, O Lord.
Show grace to us,
for we have had our fill of contempt.
4 Our souls have had their fill of the scorn of the smug
and of the contempt of the arrogant.
Deborah’s Song
5 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:[a]
2 When leaders take the lead in Israel,[b]
when the people freely offer themselves, bless the Lord!
3 Listen, kings! Lend an ear, rulers!
I will sing. Yes, I will sing to the Lord.
I will make music for the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 Lord, when you went out from Seir,
when you marched through the countryside of Edom,
the earth shook, the skies poured,
yes, the dark clouds poured water.
5 The mountains melted[c] before the Lord—this one of Sinai[d]—
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted,
and travelers kept to pathways and winding roads.
7 Life in the unwalled towns came to a halt.
In Israel, life came to a halt until I, Deborah, arose,
until I arose as a mother in Israel.
8 When Israel chose new gods,[e] there was war at the gates.
Neither shield nor spear was seen among the forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel,
to those who freely offer themselves among the people. Bless the Lord!
10 Riders on tan donkey mares, you who sit on saddle blankets,
as well as those who walk along the way—consider this:
11 Listen to the voices of those who divide flocks[f] between water holes,
where they recount the righteous acts of the Lord,
righteous acts for those who live in the unwalled towns in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the city gates.
12 Wake, awake, Deborah!
⎣Wake up the multitudes of the people.⎦
Wake, awake, sing a song.
Rise up, Barak!
⎣Deborah, strengthen Barak.⎦ [g]
Lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
43 “When an unclean spirit has gone out of someone, it passes through dry places looking for rest, but it does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I came from.’ And when it has returned, it finds the place empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it takes along with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter in and live there. So the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is how it will be for this evil generation too.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.