Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Morning Prayer
David sang this when he ran away from his son Absalom [2 Sam. 15–19].
3 Lord, ·I have many enemies [L how many are my foes?]!
·Many people [L How many…?] have ·turned [L risen] against me.
2 Many are saying about me,
“·God won’t rescue him [L There is no salvation for him in God].” ·
3 But, Lord, you are my shield [C protector],
my ·wonderful God [L glory] who ·gives me courage [L lifts up my head].
4 I will ·pray [L lift my voice] to the Lord,
and he will answer me from his holy mountain [C Zion, the location of the Temple]. ·
5 I can lie down and go to sleep,
and I will wake up again,
because the Lord ·gives me strength [sustains/upholds me].
6 Thousands of troops may ·surround me [L set themselves around me],
but I am not afraid.
7 Lord, rise up!
My God, come ·save [rescue; T deliver] me!
You have struck my enemies on the cheek;
you have broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 ·The Lord can save his people [L Salvation/Rescue/Deliverance belongs to the Lord].
·Bless your people [L May your blessing be on your people]. ·
Solomon’s Prayer
22 Then Solomon stood ·facing [before] the Lord’s altar, and all the ·Israelites [L congregation/community/assembly of Israel] were standing behind him. He spread out his hands toward the sky 23 and said:
“Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below. You keep your ·agreement [treaty; covenant] ·of love [and steadfast love/lovingkindness] with your servants who ·truly follow you [L walk before you with all their heart]. 24 You have kept the ·promise [covenant; solemn pact] you made to your servant David, my father. You spoke it with your own mouth and ·finished [fulfilled] it with your hands today. 25 Now Lord, God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David, my father. You said, ‘If your sons are careful to ·obey [L walk before] me as you have ·obeyed me [L walked], ·there will always be someone from your family [L you will never lack a man] ·ruling [to sit on the throne of] Israel [2 Sam. 7:16].’ 26 Now, God of Israel, ·please continue to keep that promise [confirm the word] you made to your servant David, my father.
27 “But, God, ·can [will] you really ·live [dwell] here on the earth? [L Look; T Behold] ·The sky [Even heaven] and the highest ·place in heaven [heavens] cannot contain you. Surely this ·house [Temple] which I have built cannot contain you. 28 But please ·listen to [regard] my prayer and my ·request [plea; supplication], because I am your servant. Lord my God, hear this prayer your servant prays to you today. 29 Night and day please watch over this ·Temple [L house] where you have said, ‘·I will be worshiped [L My name will be] there.’ Hear the prayer I pray facing this ·Temple [L house]. 30 Hear my ·prayers [pleas; supplications] and the prayers of your people Israel when we pray ·facing [toward] this place. Hear from your home in heaven, and when you hear, forgive us.
9 “You must ·be careful [watch out; be on guard]. People will arrest you and take you to ·court [local councils] and ·beat [flog] you in their synagogues. You will be forced to stand before governors and kings to ·tell them [testify; bear witness] about me, ·because you follow me [on account of me]. 10 But before these things happen, the ·Good News [Gospel] must be ·told [preached; proclaimed] to all ·people [nations]. 11 When you are arrested and ·judged [brought to trial], don’t worry ahead of time about what you should say. Say whatever is given you to say at that time, because it will not really be you speaking; it will be the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brothers will ·give [betray; hand over] their own brothers to ·be killed [death], and fathers will give their own children to ·be killed [death]. Children will ·fight [rebel; rise up] against their own parents and cause them to be put to death. 13 All people will hate you because ·you follow me [L of my name], but those people who ·keep their faith [endure; stand firm; persevere] until the end will be saved.
14 “You will see ‘·a blasphemous object that brings destruction’ [T the abomination of desolation; C a phrase taken from Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11, and originally referring to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 bc] standing where ·it [or he] should not be.” (You who read this should understand what it means [C probably a reference to the (soon-to-occur) destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70].) “At that time, the people in Judea should ·run away [flee] to the mountains. 15 If people are on the roofs of their houses [C roofs in Palestine were flat and used as spare rooms and for storage], they must not go down or go inside to get anything out of their houses. 16 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their ·coats [cloaks]. 17 At that time, ·how terrible it will be for [L woe to] women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 18 Pray that these things will not happen in ·winter [bad weather], 19 because those days will be full of ·trouble [distress; T tribulation]. There will be more ·trouble [distress; T tribulation] than there has ever been since the beginning, when God made the world, until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again [Dan. 12:1]. 20 ·God has decided to make that terrible time short [L If the Lord had not shortened those days…]. Otherwise, no one would ·go on living [survive; L be saved]. But God will make that time short ·to help [for the sake of] ·the people [the elect] he has chosen. 21 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the ·Christ [Messiah]!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 22 False ·Christs [Messiahs] and false prophets will ·come [appear; rise up] and perform ·great wonders [signs; miracles] and ·miracles [wonders; marvels]. They will try to ·fool [mislead; deceive] even the ·people God has chosen [elect], if that is possible. 23 So ·be careful [watch out; be on guard]. I have warned you about all this before it happens.
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