Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
An Experience of the Captivity.
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our [b]harps.
3 For there our captors [c](E)demanded of us [d]songs,
And (F)our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing (G)the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [e]forget her skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [f](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
(L)To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you [g](M)devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who (N)repays you
With [h]the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and (O)dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
16 “For these things I (A)weep;
[a]My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a (B)comforter,
One who restores my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion (C)stretches out her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has (D)commanded concerning Jacob
That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;
(E)Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is (F)righteous;
For I have (G)rebelled against His [b]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And (H)behold my [c]pain;
(I)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 “I (J)called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
My (K)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to (L)restore [d]their strength themselves.
20 “See, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My [e](M)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very (N)rebellious.
In the street the sword [f]slays;
In the house it is like death.
21 “They have heard that I (O)groan;
There is no one to comfort me;
All my enemies have heard of my [g]calamity;
They are (P)glad that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
That they may become (Q)like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before You;
And (R)deal with them as You have dealt with me
For all my transgressions;
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”
2 (A)Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter (B)various [a]trials, 3 knowing that (C)the testing of your (D)faith produces [b](E)endurance. 4 And let [c](F)endurance have its perfect [d]result, so that you may be [e](G)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you (H)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [f]without reproach, and (I)it will be given to him. 6 But he must (J)ask in faith (K)without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, (L)driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a [g](M)double-minded man, (N)unstable in all his ways.
9 (O)But the [h]brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because (P)like [i]flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with [j](Q)a scorching wind and (R)withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
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