Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This is a song that David wrote.
God answers prayer
28 Lord, I am calling to you for help.
You are my safe place, like a high rock.[a]
Please do not refuse to listen to me.
If you do not answer me,
I will be like those who are going down
into the deep hole of death.
2 Hear me when I call to you for help.
Please be kind to me.
I am lifting up my hands
towards your Most Holy Place.[b]
3 Do not pull me away to punishment,
as you do with wicked people.
Those people do evil things.
They say kind words to their friends,
but really they want to hurt them.
4 Punish them for their sins.
Give back to them what they deserve!
Yes, punish them!
That is the fair thing to do.
5 They do not want to understand
the things that the Lord has done,
or the things that he has made.
The Lord will punish them,
and he will remove them for ever.
6 We should praise the Lord!
He has been kind to me,
when I called to him for help.
7 The Lord makes me strong.
He keeps me safe like a shield.
I trust in him completely,
and he has helped me.
I am very happy,
and I will thank him with my songs.
8 The Lord makes his people strong.
He protects the king that he has chosen.
The Lord keeps him safe.[c]
9 Lord, save your people!
Bless the people who belong to you!
Take care of your people like a shepherd.
Always carry them in your arms!
The two shepherds[a]
4 This is what the Lord said to me, Zechariah. ‘My people are like sheep. There will be a time when men will buy them. And then they will kill them. But feed them until that time.
5 Those men who buy the sheep will kill them. Nobody will punish them. They will sell them. And they will say, “Thank you Lord, because I am a rich man.” Their own shepherds do not give the sheep any help.’
6 The Lord says, ‘The people in this country were my people, but they are not my people now. I will not go on being kind to them. I myself will give them to their enemies and to foreign kings. The foreign kings will do very bad things to the country, but I will not come to help.’
7 So I was a good shepherd to the sheep that men would soon kill. I took special care of the weakest sheep. Then I took two sticks. And I called one stick ‘Grace’ and I called the other stick ‘Together’. I fed the sheep.
8 In one month, I sent away three shepherds. They did not like me and I was not patient with them.
9 I said to the sheep, ‘I will not be your shepherd and you will die. The sheep that do not die will eat each other.’
10 I took ‘Grace’ which was my first stick. I broke it into two pieces. The Lord's promise to his people finished.
11 On the day that the Lord's promise finished, the weak sheep watched me. They knew that it was the Lord's message.
12 I said to them, ‘You may think that I should have some money for my work. If you do think that, pay me my money. If you do not want to pay me, keep it.’ So they paid me 30 silver coins.
13 The Lord said to me, ‘Throw the 30 silver coins to the man who makes pots in the house of the Lord.’ They thought that I was not worth very much! I took the 30 coins. And I threw them to the man who makes pots. He makes them for the house of the Lord.
14 Then I broke the second stick called ‘Together’. I made the kingdom of Judah separate from the kingdom of Israel. 15 Then the Lord said to me, Zechariah, ‘Take again the tools of a useless shepherd. 16 I have chosen a man to watch the sheep. He will not help the sheep that are dying. He will not look for the sheep that have gone away. He will not help the sick sheep or feed the strong sheep. He will eat the meat of the fat sheep. He will tear off their feet to get all the meat.
17 Bad things will happen to the bad shepherd who leaves his sheep.
His enemy's knife will cut his arm and his right eye.
His arm will become like a dry stick. And his right eye will no longer be able to see anything.’
The people in heaven praise God
19 After these things, I heard a sound like the voices of a great crowd of people in heaven. They were shouting,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
He has saved us!
He is very powerful!
We say that he is great!
2 Everything that he decides is right and fair.
He has punished that great prostitute.
She led people on the earth to do wicked things.
She murdered God's servants with her own hands.
But now God has punished her as she deserves.’[a]
3 Then the crowd of people in heaven shouted again,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
The smoke from the fire that burns that city will go up for ever.’
4 The 24 leaders and the four beings that are alive then threw themselves down on the ground. They worshipped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, ‘It is true! Praise the Lord God!’
5 Then a voice spoke from the throne. It said,
‘All of you who are God's servants,
praise our God!
All of you who respect God's power, worship him!
Important people and ordinary people should worship him!’
6 Then I heard a sound like the noise of a very big crowd that was shouting. The sound was like the noise of water that pours quickly along a river. It was like the noise of loud thunder. The crowd of people shouted,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
He rules with all power and authority!
7 We must shout with joy because we are so happy!
We will say that God is great!
The time has come for the Lamb's wedding party.
His bride has prepared herself.
8 God has given her linen clothes to wear that are bright and clean.’
These special linen clothes show the good things that God's holy people have done.[b]
9 Then the angel said to me, ‘Write down this message: “There will be a special meal at the Lamb's wedding party. God has truly blessed those people that he has asked to come to that meal.” ’ The angel also said to me, ‘This is a true message from God.’
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