Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.
A Psalm of David.
28 To You, Lord, I call;
My (A)rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You (B)are silent to me,
I will become like those who (C)go down to the pit.
2 Hear the (D)sound of my pleadings when I cry to You for help,
When I (E)raise my hands (F)toward [a]Your holy (G)sanctuary.
3 (H)Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who practice injustice,
Who (I)speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
4 Give back to them (J)according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Give back to them according to the work of their hands;
Repay them what is due them.
5 Because they (K)do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Because He (L)has heard the sound of my pleading.
7 The Lord is my (M)strength and my (N)shield;
My heart (O)trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore (P)my heart triumphs,
And with (Q)my song I shall thank Him.
8 The Lord is [b]their (R)strength,
And He is a refuge of (S)salvation to His anointed.
9 (T)Save Your people and bless (U)Your inheritance;
Be their (V)shepherd also, and (W)carry them forever.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to (A)slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and [a]go (B)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for (C)I have become rich!’ And their (D)own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will (E)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will (F)let the people fall, each into another’s [b]power and into the [c]power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will (G)not rescue them from their [d]power.”
7 So I (H)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, [e]therefore also the (I)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two (J)staffs: the one I called [f](K)Favor, and the other I called (L)Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in (M)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also [g]was tired of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to (N)die, [h]let it die, and what is to perish, [i]let it perish; and [j]let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff [k](O)Favor and cut it in pieces, to [l](P)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was [m]broken on that day, and [n]so the (Q)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my (R)wages; but if not, [o]never mind!” So they weighed out (S)thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (T)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff (U)Union, to (V)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a (W)foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will (X)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will (Y)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
The Fourfold Hallelujah
19 After these things I heard something like a (A)loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“(B)Hallelujah! (C)Salvation, (D)glory, and power belong to our God, 2 (E)because His (F)judgments are (G)true and righteous; for He has judged the (H)great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has (I)avenged the blood of His bond-servants [a]on her.” 3 And a second time they said, “(J)Hallelujah! (K)Her smoke rises forever and ever.” 4 And the (L)twenty-four elders and the (M)four living creatures (N)fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “(O)Amen. (P)Hallelujah!” 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying,
“(Q)Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, (R)you who fear Him, the small and the great.” 6 Then I heard something like (S)the voice of a great multitude and like (T)the sound of many waters, and like the (U)sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“(V)Hallelujah! For the (W)Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
Marriage of the Lamb
7 Let’s rejoice and be glad and (X)give the glory to Him, because (Y)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His [b](Z)bride has prepared herself.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in (AA)fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the (AB)righteous acts of the [c]saints.
9 Then (AC)he *said to me, “(AD)Write: ‘(AE)Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “(AF)These are the true words of God.”
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