Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Overcomer upon Shoshannim, {lilies} A testimony of Asaph: A Psalm.
1 ¶ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth.
2 In the presence of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength and come and save us.
8 ¶ Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it.
9 Thou didst prepare room before it and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the earth.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and its boughs were like the cedars of God.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea and her branches unto the river.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all those who pass by the way pluck her?
13 The boar out of the wood wastes it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of the hosts: look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine
15 and the vineyard which thy right hand has planted and the branch that thou didst make strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire; it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou didst make strong for thyself,
18 so we will not go back from thee. Thou shalt quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of the hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
3 ¶ For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of the hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water,
2 the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, the fortune-teller and the ancient,
3 the captain of fifty and the honourable man and the counsellor and the cunning artificer and the eloquent wise man.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and young fools shall rule over them.
5 And the people shall do violence, one against another, and each one against his neighbour; the child shall rise up against the ancient and the base against the honourable.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand;
7 in that day he shall swear, saying, I will not be a healer for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: do not make me a ruler of the people.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen because their tongue and their doings have been against the LORD, to irritate the eyes of his majesty.
9 ¶ The appearance of their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10 Say unto the righteous that it shall be well with him, for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for according to the work of his hands it shall be done unto him.
12 The oppressors of my people are many, and women rule over him. O my people, those who lead thee cause thee to err and twist the way of thy paths.
13 The LORD stands up to litigate and is present to judge the peoples.
14 The LORD will come with judgment against the elders of his people and against these his princes, for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean that ye beat my people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of the hosts.
16 ¶ Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and swaggering as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will make bare the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will uncover that which they are ashamed of.
32 But bring to memory the former days, in which, after ye received the light, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 on the one hand ye were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and on the other ye became companions of those that were so used.
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that in yourselves ye have a better substance in the heavens, and that abides.
35 Do not lose, therefore, this your confidence, which has great recompense of reward;
36 for patience is necessary, so that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who draw back unto perdition, but faithful unto the saving of the soul.
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