Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 123
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned(A) in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord(B) our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
Disobedience and Defeat(A)
6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.(B)
8 Joshua son of Nun,(C) the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres[a](D) in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.(E) 11 Then the Israelites did evil(F) in the eyes of the Lord(G) and served the Baals.(H) 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods(I) of the peoples around them.(J) They aroused(K) the Lord’s anger(L) 13 because they forsook(M) him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.(N) 14 In his anger(O) against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands(P) of raiders who plundered(Q) them. He sold them(R) into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.(S) 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them(T) to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.(U)
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple(A) saying to the seven angels,(B) “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”(C)
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land,(D) and ugly, festering sores(E) broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.(F)
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.(G)
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water,(H) and they became blood.(I) 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments,(J) O Holy One,(K)
you who are and who were;(L)
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,(M)
and you have given them blood to drink(N) as they deserve.”
7 And I heard the altar(O) respond:
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