Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
BOOK FOUR
(Psalms 90–106)
A prayer by Moses, the man of God.
90 O Lord, you have been our refuge throughout every generation.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world, you were God.
You are God from everlasting to everlasting.
3 You turn mortals back into dust
and say, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
4 Indeed, in your sight a thousand years are like a single day,
like yesterday—already past—
like an hour in the night.
5 You sweep mortals away.
They are a dream.
They sprout again in the morning like cut grass.
6 In the morning they blossom and sprout.
In the evening they wither and dry up.
7 Indeed, your anger consumes us.
Your rage terrifies us.
8 You have set our sins in front of you.
You have put our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 Indeed, all our days slip away because of your fury.
We live out our years like one ⌞long⌟ sigh.
10 Each of us lives for 70 years—
or even 80 if we are in good health.
But the best of them ⌞bring⌟ trouble and misery.
Indeed, they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who fully understands the power of your anger?
A person fears you more when he better understands your fury.
12 Teach us to number each of our days
so that we may grow in wisdom.
13 Return, Lord! How long … ?
Change your plans about ⌞us,⌟ your servants.
14 Satisfy us every morning with your mercy
so that we may sing joyfully and rejoice all our days.
15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have made us suffer,
for as many years as we have experienced evil.
16 Let ⌞us,⌟ your servants, see what you can do.
Let our children see your glorious power.
17 Let the kindness of the Lord our God be with us.
Make us successful in everything we do.
Yes, make us successful in everything we do.
24 That’s why the Lord, the Lord of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says,
“How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents!
I will avenge myself against my enemies.
25 I will turn my power against you.
I will remove your impurities with bleach.
I will get rid of all your impurities.
26 I will give you judges like you had long ago,
advisers like you had in the beginning.
After that you will be called the Righteous City,
the Faithful Town.”
27 Zion will be pardoned by ⌞the Lord’s⌟ justice,
and those who return will be pardoned
by ⌞the Lord’s⌟ righteousness.
28 Rebels and sinners will be crushed at the same time,
and those who abandon the Lord will come to an end.
29 You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship
and embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.
30 You will be like an oak whose leaves wither
and like a garden without water.
31 Strong people will become tinder for a fire,
and their work will be the spark.
Both of them will burn together,
and there will be no one to put out the fire.
29 As the people were gathering around him, Jesus said, “The people living today are evil. They look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah. 30 Just as Jonah became a miraculous sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a miraculous sign to the people living today. 31 The queen from the south will stand up at the time of judgment with the men who live today. She will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. But look, someone greater than Solomon is here! 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the time of judgment with the people living today. Since the men of Nineveh turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message, they will condemn the people living today. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here!
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