Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Lilies, a Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Hear us O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark of the covenant], shine forth!
2
Before [a]Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power
And come to save us!
3
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
4
O Lord God of hosts,
How long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people?
5
You have fed them the bread of tears,
And You have made them drink [bitter] tears in abundance.
6
You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh [at our suffering] among themselves.
7
Restore us, O God of hosts;
And cause Your face to shine on us [with favor and approval], and we will be saved.
10
Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You islands and coastlands, and those who inhabit them [sing His praise]!
11
Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The villages where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of [a]Sela shout for joy,
Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.
12
Let them give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the islands and coastlands.
13
The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will stir up His zeal like a man of war;
He will shout out, yes, He will raise a war cry.
He will prevail [mightily] against His enemies.
The Blindness of the People
14
“I [the Lord] have been silent for a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will moan like a woman in labor,
I will both gasp and pant.
15
“I will lay waste the mountains and hills
And wither all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into coastlands
And dry up the ponds.
16
“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;
I will guide them in paths that they do not know.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These things I will do [for them],
And I will not leave them abandoned or undone.”
17
Those who trust in carved idols will be turned back,
And utterly put to shame,
Who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”
18
Hear, you deaf!
And look, you blind, that you may see.
32 But remember the earlier days, when, after being [spiritually] enlightened, you [patiently] endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 sometimes by being made a spectacle, publicly exposed to insults and distress, and sometimes by becoming companions with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy and deep concern for those who were imprisoned, and you joyfully accepted the [unjust] seizure of your belongings and the confiscation of your property, conscious of the fact that you have a better possession and a lasting one [prepared for you in heaven]. 35 Do not, therefore, fling away your [fearless] confidence, for it has a glorious and great reward. 36 For you have need of patient endurance [to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising], so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised.
37
For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38
But My righteous one [the one justified by faith] shall live by faith [respecting man’s relationship to God and trusting Him];
And if he draws back [shrinking in fear], My soul has no delight in him.(A)
39 But [a]our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.