Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 85
Prayer for the Restoration of God’s Favor
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.(A)
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin. Selah(B)
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?(C)
6 Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?(D)
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.[a](E)
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.(F)
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.(G)
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.(H)
13 Righteousness will go before him
and will make a path for his steps.(I)
God Accuses Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel,
for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or loyalty
and no knowledge of God in the land.(A)
2 Swearing, lying, and murder,
and stealing and adultery break out;
bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals
and the birds of the air,
even the fish of the sea are perishing.(B)
4 Yet let no one contend,
and let none accuse,
for with you is my contention, O priest.[a](C)
5 You shall stumble by day;
the prophet also shall stumble with you by night,
and I will destroy your mother.(D)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me;
and since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.(E)
7 The more they increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they changed[b] their glory into shame.(F)
8 They feed on the sin of my people;
they are greedy for their iniquity.
9 And it shall be like people, like priest;
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.(G)
10 They shall eat but not be satisfied;
they shall prostitute themselves but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
to devote themselves to(H) 11 prostitution.
The Idolatry of Israel
Wine and new wine
take away the understanding.(I)
12 My people consult a piece of wood,
and their divining rod gives them oracles.
For a spirit of prostitution has led them astray,
and they have prostituted themselves, forsaking their God.(J)
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters prostitute themselves,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.(K)
14 I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves
nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
and sacrifice with female attendants;
thus a people without understanding comes to ruin.(L)
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 “Brothers and sisters,[a] the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus,(A) 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”(B) 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.(C) 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his house become desolate,
and let there be no one to live in it’;
and
‘Let another take his position of overseer.’(D)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.