Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?
137 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows[a] there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 (A)How shall we sing the Lord's song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
(B)let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my (C)tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
7 Remember, O Lord, against the (D)Edomites
(E)the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, (F)“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, (G)doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who (H)repays you
with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and (I)dashes them against the rock!
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
5 (A)Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see (B)our disgrace!
2 (C)Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 (D)Our pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to (E)Egypt, and to (F)Assyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
(G)and we bear their iniquities.
8 (H)Slaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 (I)We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 (J)Our skin is hot as an oven
with (K)the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 (L)Princes are hung up by their hands;
(M)no respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to (N)grind at the mill,
and boys stagger (O)under loads of wood.
14 (P)The old men have left the city gate,
the young men (Q)their music.
15 (R)The joy of our hearts has ceased;
(S)our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 (T)The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this (U)our heart has become sick,
for these things (V)our eyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
(W)jackals prowl over it.
19 (X)But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 (Y)Why do you forget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 (Z)Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 (AA)unless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
12 (A)On the following day, when they came from Bethany, (B)he was hungry. 13 (C)And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for (D)it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
20 (A)As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, (B)“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have (C)faith in God. 23 (D)Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, (E)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not (F)doubt in his heart, but (G)believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, (H)whatever you ask in prayer, (I)believe that you (J)have received[a] it, and it will be yours.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.