Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A prayer of Moses, God's servant.
God lives for ever![a]
90 Lord, from long ago,
you have always been a safe home for us.[b]
2 From before the mountains began,
and before you made the world,
you were already there, as God.
You have no beginning and no end.
3 People return to dust in the ground when they die.
You say, ‘Become dust again, you people.’[c]
4 For you, a thousand years is only a short time.
They pass as quickly as a day for you,
or just a few hours in the night.
5 You cause people's lives to end,
as a dream finishes when you wake up.
People are like grass that appears in the morning.
6 During the morning, it grows well.
By the evening,
it becomes dry and it dies.
7 Your anger destroys us,
and we become very afraid.
8 All our sins are there for you to see.
You even see the sins that we have tried to hide.
9 Your anger gives us trouble all through our lives.
Then our lives end in a short groan.
10 The number of our days make 70 years,
or maybe 80 years if we are strong enough.
But even in the best years of our lives,
we have trouble and pain.
Our lives quickly pass,
and we hurry towards death.
11 Lord, nobody knows all the power of your anger.
It is your anger that causes people to be afraid of you.
12 Teach us to count carefully the days of our short lives.
Then we will be wise in how we live.
13 Lord, return to help us!
How long will you be angry with us?
Please be kind to us, your servants!
14 Show your faithful love to us every morning.
Then we will sing with joy,
and we will be happy for as long as we live.
15 For many years you have sent trouble to us.
Now, please make us happy
for as many years as you have given us pain.
16 Do great things again,
so that we, your servants, see them!
Let our children see that you rule as King!
17 Yes, may the Lord our God bless us.
May everything that we do go well!
Yes, may everything go well!
24 So the Lord says this. He is the Lord Almighty, Israel's Mighty One. He says, ‘Oh! I will punish my enemies as they deserve. I will pay them back!
25 I will turn against you, Jerusalem. I will make you pure again. But you will be like metal that burns in a very hot fire to remove all the dirt.
26 Then I will again give you honest judges, as you had a long time ago. I will also give you wise officers, as you had before. After that, you will be called “The Righteous City” and “The Faithful City”.’
27 God will use justice to make Zion free. He will do what is right for those who return to serve him.
28 But he will destroy people who turn against him, and those who continue to do wrong things. People who no longer trust the Lord will live no more.
29 You will become ashamed because you trusted special oak trees to help you. You worshipped idols in your special gardens, and you will be ashamed because of that.
30 You will be like an oak tree with leaves that have become dry. You will be like a garden that has no water.
31 Even your most powerful men will disappear. They will be like a piece of string that burns in a fire. Their sins will be the fire that destroys them. They and their sins will burn together, and nobody will put out the fire.
Jesus talks about Jonah
29 The crowd around Jesus was growing very large, so he began to speak to them. ‘The people that are alive today are very bad,’ he said. ‘They want God to show them something powerful. But God will not do this for them. They will only see the same powerful thing that God did for Jonah.[a] 30 Jonah showed God's power to the people who lived in Nineveh. They knew that God had sent him. In the same way the Son of Man will show God's power to the people that are living today. Then they will know that God has sent me.
31 Also, the queen of Sheba travelled a long way to see King Solomon. She wanted to hear his wise words. When God judges everyone, she will stand up. She will speak against you who are alive today. She will show that you are bad people. She listened to King Solomon. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Solomon was.[b]
32 When God judges everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They will stand up and they will speak against you. They will show that the people who are alive today are bad. When Jonah spoke to the people in Nineveh long ago, they stopped doing bad things. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Jonah was.’
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