Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
The Deliverance of Israel
27 In that day (A)the Lord will punish [a](B)Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even [b]Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And (C)He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
2 In that day,
“A [c](D)vineyard of wine, sing of it!
3 “I, the Lord, am its keeper;
(E)I water it every moment.
So that no one will [d]damage it,
I (F)guard it night and day.
4 “I have no wrath.
Should [e]someone give Me (G)briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, (H)I would burn them [f]completely.
5 “Or let him [g](I)rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him (J)make peace with Me.”
6 [h]In the days to come Jacob (K)will take root,
Israel will (L)blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the [i]whole world with (M)fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has (N)He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, [j]have they been slain?
8 You contended with them [k]by banishing them, by (O)driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the (P)east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be (Q)forgiven;
And this will be [l]the full price of the [m](R)pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the (S)altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When [n]Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is (T)isolated,
A [o]homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert;
(U)There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and [p]feed on its branches.
11 When its (V)limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of (W)discernment,
Therefore (X)their Maker (Y)will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12 In that day the Lord (Z)will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the (AA)Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be (AB)gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great (AC)trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of (AD)Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and (AE)worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Traders Driven from the Temple
45 (A)Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘(B)And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ (C)but you have made it a robbers’ [a]den.”
47 And (D)He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people (E)were trying to destroy Him, 48 and they could not find [b]anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to [c]every word He said.
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