Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A psalm of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Use your strength,
and come to save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God All-Powerful,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people with tears;
you have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us,
and our enemies make fun of us.
7 God All-Powerful, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
8 You brought us out of Egypt as if we were a vine.
You forced out other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the ground for us.
Like a vine, we took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had limbs like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you pull down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by steals from us.
13 Like wild pigs they walk over us;
like wild animals they feed on us.
14 God All-Powerful, come back.
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this shoot with your own hands
and strengthened this child.
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire;
you destroyed us by your angry looks.
17 With your hand,
strengthen the one you have chosen for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God All-Powerful, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
A New Time Is Coming
17 “Look, I will make new heavens and a new earth,
and people will not remember the past
or think about those things.
18 My people will be happy forever
because of the things I will make.
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,
and I will make her people a delight.
19 Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and be delighted with my people.
There will never again be heard in that city
the sounds of crying and sadness.
20 There will never be a baby from that city
who lives only a few days.
And there will never be an older person
who doesn’t have a long life.
A person who lives a hundred years will be called young,
and a person who dies before he is a hundred will be thought of as a sinner.
21 In that city those who build houses will live there.
Those who plant vineyards will get to eat their grapes.
22 No more will one person build a house and someone else live there.
One person will not plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit.
My people will live a long time,
as trees live long.
My chosen people will live there
and enjoy the things they make.
23 They will never again work for nothing.
They will never again give birth to children who die young.
All my people will be blessed by the Lord;
they and their children will be blessed.
24 I will provide for their needs before they ask,
and I will help them while they are still asking for help.
25 Wolves and lambs will eat together in peace.
Lions will eat hay like oxen,
and a snake on the ground will not hurt anyone.
They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
18 “I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live, too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I am in you. 21 Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you plan to show yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?”
23 Jesus answered, “If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me.
25 “I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26 But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
27 “I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going, but I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you should be happy that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am. 29 I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe. 30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, 31 but the world must know that I love the Father, so I do exactly what the Father told me to do.
“Come now, let us go.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.