Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessed Is the One Whom You Choose
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 To You, there will be silence and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the (A)vow will be paid.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You (B)all flesh comes.
3 (C)Words of iniquity prevail against me;
As for our transgressions, You (D)atone for them.
4 How (E)blessed is the one whom You (F)choose and bring near to You
That he would dwell in Your courts.
We will be (G)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By [a](H)fearsome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O (I)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the (J)ends of the earth and of the farthest [b](K)sea;
6 Who (L)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being (M)girded with might;
7 Who (N)stills the rumbling of the seas,
The rumbling of their waves,
And the (O)tumult of the peoples.
8 They who inhabit the (P)ends of the earth are in fear on account of Your signs;
You make [c]the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (Q)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (R)enrich it;
The [d](S)stream of God is full of water;
You establish their (T)grain, for thus You establish [e]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges,
You soften it (U)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year [f]with Your (V)goodness,
And Your [g]paths (W)drip with richness.
12 (X)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (Y)hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (Z)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (AA)covered with grain;
They (AB)make a loud shout, indeed, they sing.
The Locusts Bring Desolation
1 The (A)word of [a]Yahweh that came to (B)Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 (C)Hear this, O (D)elders,
And give ear, all inhabitants of the land.
(E)Has anything like this happened in your days
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 (F)Recount about it to your sons,
And let your sons recount about it to their sons,
And their sons to the next generation.
4 What the (G)gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has consumed;
And what the (H)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has consumed;
And what the creeping locust has left, the (I)stripping locust has consumed.
5 Awake, (J)drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
On account of the sweet wine
That is (K)cut off from your mouth.
6 For a (L)nation has come up against my land,
Mighty and without number;
(M)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has (N)made my vine a desolation
And my fig tree [b]splinters.
It has stripped them bare and cast them away;
Their branches have become white.
8 (O)Wail like a virgin (P)girded with sackcloth
For the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The (Q)grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
From the house of Yahweh.
The (R)priests mourn,
The ministers of Yahweh.
10 The field is (S)destroyed;
(T)The land mourns,
For the grain is destroyed,
The new wine dries up,
Fresh oil [c]fails.
11 [d](U)Be ashamed, O farmers,
Wail, O vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley,
Because the (V)harvest of the field perishes.
12 The (W)vine dries up,
And the fig tree [e]fails;
The (X)pomegranate, the (Y)palm also, and the [f](Z)apple tree,
All the trees of the field dry up.
Indeed, (AA)rejoicing dries up
From the sons of men.
The Day of Yahweh Is Near
13 (AB)Gird yourselves with sackcloth
And lament, O priests;
(AC)Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, (AD)spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 (AE)Set apart a fast as holy,
Call for a (AF)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of Yahweh your God,
And (AG)cry out to Yahweh.
15 (AH)Alas for the day!
For the (AI)day of Yahweh is near,
And it will come as (AJ)destruction from the [g]Almighty.
16 Has not (AK)food been cut off before our eyes,
Gladness and (AL)joy from the house of our God?
17 The [h](AM)seeds shrivel under their [i]clods;
The storehouses are desolate;
The barns are pulled down,
For the grain is dried up.
18 How (AN)the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle wander aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep [j]suffer.
19 (AO)To You, O Yahweh, I cry;
For (AP)fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the beasts of the field [k](AQ)pant for You;
For the (AR)water brooks are dried up,
And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
Difficult Times Will Come
3 But know this, that (A)in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be (B)lovers of self, (C)lovers of money, (D)boastful, (E)arrogant, (F)blasphemers, (G)disobedient to parents, (H)ungrateful, (I)unholy, 3 (J)unloving, irreconcilable, [a](K)malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, (L)without love for good, 4 (M)treacherous, (N)reckless, (O)conceited, (P)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b](Q)godliness, but having (R)denied its power. (S)Keep away from such men as these. 6 For among them are those who [c](T)enter into households and take captive [d](U)weak women weighed down with sins, being led on by (V)various desires, 7 always learning and never able to (W)come to the [e]full knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as (X)Jannes and Jambres (Y)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, (Z)men of depraved mind, disqualified in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their (AA)folly will be obvious to all, just (AB)as theirs was also.
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