Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 80[a]
Prayer for the Persecuted People
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Eduth. A psalm of Asaph.
2 [c]Listen to us, O shepherd of Israel,[d]
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
As you sit enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
3 over Ephraim,[e] Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Stir up your power
and come to save us.
4 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine[f] upon us,
and we will be saved.
5 O Lord of hosts,[g]
how long will you be angry
at your people’s prayers?
6 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and made them drink tears beyond measure.
7 You have made us an object of contention to our neighbors,
a source of mockery to our enemies.
Chapter 13
The Country Will Be Purified. 1 On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
2 On that day, says the Lord of hosts: I will banish the names of the idols from the land, so that they will be remembered no more. I will also rid the land of the prophets and the spirit of impurity. 3 If a man continues to prophesy, his parents, his own father and mother, will say to him, “You will not live, for you have uttered lies in the name of the Lord.” And while he is prophesying, his parents, his own father and mother, will pierce him through.
4 On that day, every prophet will be ashamed to relate his own prophetic vision, and he will not wear a hairy mantle in order to deceive. 5 Rather, he will say, “I am no prophet. I am a tiller of soil, for the land has been my possession since my youth.” 6 And if anyone asks him, “What are these wounds on your chest?” he will reply, “I received them in the house of my friends.”
The Song of the Sword
7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,
says the Lord of hosts.
Strike the shepherd,
so that the sheep may be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against their young.[a]
8 Throughout the land, says the Lord,
two-thirds in it will be cut off and perish,
and one-third will be left.
9 I will put that one-third through fire,
and I will refine them as silver is refined,
and I will test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name
and I will hear them.
I will say, “These are my people,”
and they will say, “The Lord is our God.”
The Nearness of the Judgment.[a] 6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to all those who live on the earth, to every nation, race, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the time has come for his judgment. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed him, saying:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.
She has made all the nations drink
the wine of the wrath of her immorality.”
9 A third angel followed them, crying out in a loud voice, “Anyone who worships the beast or its image and receives its mark on his forehead or hand 10 will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured undiluted into the cup of his wrath.[b] Such people will be tormented in burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no respite day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or for those who receive the mark of its name.”
12 This demands patient endurance on the part of the saints who keep the commandments of God and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed[c] are those who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will find rest from their labors, for their deeds go with them.”
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