Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^137 (A)Righteous are You, O Yahweh,
And upright are Your judgments.
¹³⁸ In ^(B)righteousness, You have commanded Your testimonies
And in exceeding ^(C)faithfulness.
¹³⁹ My ^(D)zeal has ^[a]consumed me,
Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.
¹⁴⁰ Your ^[b](E)word is exceedingly refined,
Therefore Your slave ^(F)loves it.
¹⁴¹ I am small and ^(G)despised,
Yet I do not ^(H)forget Your precepts.
¹⁴² Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And ^(I)Your law is truth.
¹⁴³ Trouble and anguish have found me,
Yet Your commandments are my ^(J)delight.
¹⁴⁴ Righteous are Your ^(K)testimonies forever;
^(L)Give me understanding that I may live.

⁵ “^(A)See among the nations! And look!
Be also astonished! ^(B)Be astounded!
Because I am doing ^(C)something in your days—
You would not believe if it was recounted to you.
⁶ For behold, I am ^(D)raising up the Chaldeans,
That bitter and hasty nation
Who walks on the breadth of the land
To ^(E)possess dwelling places which are not theirs.
⁷ They are dreaded and ^(F)feared;
Their ^(G)justice and exaltation come forth from themselves.
⁸ Their ^(H)horses are swifter than leopards
And ^[a]sharper than ^(I)wolves in the evening.
Their ^[b]horsemen come galloping;
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an ^(J)eagle swooping down to devour.
⁹ All of them come for violence.
^[c]Their horde of ^(K)faces moves forward.
And they gather captives like sand.
¹⁰ And they ^(L)mock at kings,
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They ^(M)laugh at every fortress
And ^(N)heap up dirt and capture it.
¹¹ Then they will sweep through like the ^(O)wind and pass on.
But they will be held ^(P)guilty,
They whose ^(Q)power is their god.”

¹² Are You not from ^(R)everlasting,
O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Yahweh, have ^(S)placed them to judge;
And You, O ^(T)Rock, have established them to reprove.
¹³ Your eyes are too ^(U)pure to see evil,
And You cannot look on trouble.
Why do You ^(V)look
On those who deal ^(W)treacherously?
Why are You ^(X)silent when the wicked ^(Y)swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
¹⁴ And You have made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them.
¹⁵ The Chaldeans ^(Z)bring all of them up with a hook,
^(AA)Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they are glad and rejoice.
¹⁶ Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And ^[d]burn incense to their fishing net
Because through ^(AB)these things their portion is rich
And their food is fat.
¹⁷ Will they therefore empty their ^(AC)net
And continually ^(AD)kill nations without sparing?