Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Dirge and a Prayer for Israel, Destroyed by Enemies
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the [a]nations have come into (A)Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
(B)They have laid Jerusalem [b]in heaps.
2 (C)The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our (D)neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
14 “Why do we sit still?
(A)Assemble yourselves,
And let us enter the fortified cities,
And let us be silent there.
For the Lord our God has put us to silence
And given us (B)water[a] of gall to drink,
Because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 “We (C)looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble!
16 The snorting of His horses was heard from (D)Dan.
The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His (E)strong ones;
For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell in it.”
17 “For behold, I will send serpents among you,
Vipers which cannot be (F)charmed,
And they shall bite you,” says the Lord.
2 Oh, that I had in the wilderness
A lodging place for travelers;
That I might leave my people,
And go from them!
For (A)they are all adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.
3 “And like their bow (B)they have bent their tongues for lies.
They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from (C)evil to evil,
And they (D)do not know Me,” says the Lord.
4 “Everyone(E) take heed to his [a]neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
For every brother will utterly supplant,
And every neighbor will (F)walk with slanderers.
5 Everyone will (G)deceive his neighbor,
And will not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, (H)I will refine them and [b]try them;
(I)For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people?
8 Their tongue is an arrow shot out;
It speaks (J)deceit;
One speaks (K)peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,
But [c]in his heart he [d]lies in wait.
9 (L)Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
The Widow’s Two Mites(A)
41 (B)Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money (C)into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two [a]mites, which make a [b]quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that (D)this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, (E)her whole livelihood.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.