Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 79
Faith amid Confusion
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, the nations have invaded your inheritance,
desecrated your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(B)
2 They gave the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of your faithful ones
to the beasts of the earth.(C)
3 They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(D)
4 We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(E)
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?(F)
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that don’t acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,(G)
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(H)
8 Do not hold past iniquities[a] against us;
let your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become very weak.(I)
9 God of our salvation, help us,(J)
for the glory of your name.
Rescue us and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake.(K)
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?” (L)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants
be known among the nations.(M)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach you;
according to your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(N)
6 On that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will assemble the lame
and gather the scattered,(A)
those I have injured.
7 I will make the lame into a remnant,(B)
those far removed into a strong nation.
Then the Lord will reign over them(C) in Mount Zion
from this time on and forever.
8 And you, watchtower for the flock,(D)
fortified hill[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former rule(E) will come to you;
sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.
From Exile to Victory
9 Now, why are you shouting loudly?(F)
Is there no king with you?
Has your counselor perished(G)
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe and cry out,[b](H) Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you will leave the city(I)
and camp in the open fields.
You will go to Babylon;
there you will be rescued;(J)
there the Lord will redeem you(K)
from the grasp of your enemies!
11 Many nations have now assembled against you;(L)
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
12 But they do not know the Lord’s intentions(M)
or understand his plan,
that he has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Rise and thresh,(N) Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze
so you can crush many peoples.(O)
Then you[c] will set apart their plunder(P)
for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
The Fall of Babylon the Great
18 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven,(A) and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 He called out in a mighty voice:
It has fallen,[a]
Babylon the Great has fallen!(B)
She has become a home for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
and a haunt[b] for every unclean and despicable beast.[c](C)
3 For all the nations have drunk[d]
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.(D)
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.(E)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven:
Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins(F)
or receive any of her plagues.
5 For her sins are piled up[e] to heaven,(G)
and God has remembered her crimes.(H)
6 Pay her back the way she also paid,(I)
and double it according to her works.(J)
In the cup in which she mixed,(K)
mix a double portion for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways,
give her that much torment and grief.
For she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”(L)
8 For this reason her plagues will come in just one day—
death and grief and famine.(M)
She will be burned up with fire,(N)
because the Lord God who judges(O) her is mighty.(P)
The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall
9 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They will stand far off in fear of her torment,(Q) saying,
Woe, woe, the great city,(R)
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour
your judgment has come.
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