Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 129
A song of ascents.
1 ‘They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,’
let Israel say;
2 ‘they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory over me.
3 Ploughmen have ploughed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.’
5 May all who hate Zion
be turned back in shame.
6 May they be like grass on the roof,
which withers before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 May those who pass by not say to them,
‘The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you in the name of the Lord.’
A message about Babylon
50 This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:[a]
2 ‘Announce and proclaim among the nations,
lift up a banner and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
“Babylon will be captured;
Bel will be put to shame,
Marduk filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols filled with terror.”
3 A nation from the north will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
both people and animals will flee away.
4 ‘In those days, at that time,’
declares the Lord,
‘the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.
5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces towards it.
They will come and bind themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.
6 ‘My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
7 Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said, “We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture,
the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.”
17 ‘Israel is a scattered flock
that lions have chased away.
The first to devour them
was the king of Assyria;
the last to crush their bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.’
18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture,
and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
their appetite will be satisfied
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, at that time,’
declares the Lord,
‘search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.[a]
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.