Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
137 By the rivers of Bavel we sat down and wept
as we remembered Tziyon.
2 We had hung up our lyres
on the willows that were there,
3 when those who had taken us captive
asked us to sing them a song;
our tormentors demanded joy from us —
“Sing us one of the songs from Tziyon!”
4 How can we sing a song about Adonai
here on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Yerushalayim,
may my right hand wither away!
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I fail to count Yerushalayim
the greatest of all my joys.
7 Remember, Adonai, against the people of Edom
the day of Yerushalayim’s fall,
how they cried, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Raze it to the ground!”
8 Daughter of Bavel, you will be destroyed!
A blessing on anyone who pays you back
for the way you treated us!
9 A blessing on anyone who seizes your babies
and smashes them against a rock!
16 “Because of these things, I weep;
my eyes, my eyes stream with tears;
for anyone who could comfort me
and revive my courage is far away.
My children are in a state of shock,
because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Tziyon spreads out her hands,
but no one is there to console her.
Concerning Ya‘akov, Adonai has ordered
those around him to be his foes;
Yerushalayim has become for them
an unclean, filthy thing.
18 “Adonai is in the right,
for I rebelled against his word.
Listen, please, all you peoples;
and see how I am in pain!
My young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19 “I called out to my lovers,
but they let me down.
My cohanim and leaders
perished in the city,
as they were seeking food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, Adonai, how distressed I am!
Everything in me is churning!
My heart turns over inside me,
because I have been so rebellious.
Outside, the sword brings bereavement;
inside, it is like death.
21 “People have heard how I groan,
with no one to comfort me.
All my foes have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
Bring the day you have promised,
so that they will suffer like me!
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you.
Then do to them
as you have done to me
because of all my offenses.
For my groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.”
2 Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; 3 for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. 4 But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach; and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in trust, doubting nothing; for the doubter is like a wave in the sea being tossed and driven by the wind. 7 Indeed that person should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 because he is double-minded, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother in humble circumstances boast about his high position. 10 But let the rich brother boast about his being humbled; since, like a wildflower, he will pass away. 11 For just as the sun rises with the sharav and dries up the plant, so that its flower falls off and its beauty is destroyed, so too the rich person going about his business will wither away.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.