Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 79
They Have Reduced Jerusalem to Rubble
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.
The Destruction and the Disgrace
1 God, the nations have invaded your possession.
They have profaned your holy temple.
They have reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky.
They have given the flesh of your favored ones to the wild animals.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
4 We are subjected to contempt by our neighbors,
to mockery and ridicule by those around us.
The Prayer for Justice
5 How long, O Lord? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,
7 because they have devoured Jacob,
and they have destroyed his pastureland.[a]
8 Do not charge the guilt of our fathers against us.
Hurry, let your compassion come to meet us,
for we are very weak.
9 God, who saves us, help us for the glory of your name.
Deliver us and make atonement for our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes, display to the nations
vengeance for the poured-out blood of your servants.
11 May the groaning of the prisoner come before you.
According to the great strength of your arm
preserve those doomed to death.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times as much scorn
as the scorn that they directed at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will praise you forever.
From generation to generation we will recount your praise.
A Future Kingdom of Peace
4 In the last days, the mountain of the House of the Lord
will be established as the highest among the mountains.[a]
It will be raised above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it like a river.
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law[b] will go out from Zion
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will render judgment between many peoples.
He will settle disputes between mighty nations from far away.
They will pound their swords into plowshares
and their spears into blades for trimming vines.
Nation will not raise the sword against nation,
and they will not learn how to wage war any longer.
4 Each man will sit under his own vine
and under his own fig tree.
There will be no one to make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of Armies has spoken.
5 For all the other peoples walk in the names of their gods,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
The Angels With the Seven Last Plagues
15 Then I saw another great and remarkable sign in heaven: seven angels with seven plagues—the last plagues, because in them God’s wrath is completed.
2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and his image[a] and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass. They held the harps of God, 3 and they were singing the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb. They said:
Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, King of the Nations.[b]
4 Who will not fear you,[c] Lord,
and who will not praise your name?
You alone are holy!
All the nations will come and will bow down before you,
because your righteous verdicts have been revealed.
5 After these things I looked, and the sanctuary of the Tent of the Testimony was opened in heaven. 6 The seven angels who hold the seven plagues came out of the sanctuary. They were clothed with clean bright linen, and they wore gold sashes around their chests.
7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels the seven gold bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.