Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 80
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies of the Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth.
2 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up Your strength,
and come and rescue us.
3 Restore us again, O God,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
4 O Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
against the prayers of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and have given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You make us contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us again, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 So we will not turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us again, O Lord God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
Woe to the Wicked
2 Woe to those who conceive wickedness,
to those who devise evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they execute it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses and take them.
They defraud a man of his house,
and a fellow man of his inheritance.
3 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
I am devising disaster against this family,
from which you cannot remove your necks;
and you will not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day they will take up a taunt against you,
and they will wail a wailing lament, and say:
“We are totally ruined!
He diminishes the portion of my people;
how He removes it from me!
To a traitor He reassigns our fields!”
5 Therefore you will not have anyone to apportion the land by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
Prophets of Deceit
6 “Do not prophesy,” they say.
“One should not prophesy about these things.
Disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Are these His deeds?”
Do not My words benefit
him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately My people rise up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by trustingly,
like men returning from war.
9 The women of My people you drive out
from their delightful homes;
from their children
you take My adornment forever.
10 Get up and go,
for this is not the resting place,
because uncleanness ruins,
and ruin sickens.
11 If a man, going about vapidly and deceitfully, lies,
“I will preach for you wine and beer,”
he would be just the preacher for this people.
The Restoration of Israel
12 I will indeed assemble Jacob—all of you;
I will indeed gather the remnant of Israel.
I will place them together like sheep in a fold,
like a herd in its pasture—
thronging with people.
13 He who breaks through has gone up before them;
they will break through and pass the gate and go out by it.
Then their king will pass on before them,
the Lord at their head.
The Great Tribulation(A)
15 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’[a] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. 19 Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then will be great tribulation, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
22 “Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Listen, I have told you beforehand.
26 “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert,’ do not go there; or, ‘Look, He is in the private chambers,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
The Coming of the Son of Man(B)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
‘the sun will be darkened,
the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’[b]
30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.