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A Prayer for God’s People

36Have mercy upon us, O God^* of all,
²   and put all the nations in fear of you.
⁵ Then they will know,^* as we have known,
   that there is no God but you, O Lord.
⁶ Give new signs, and work other wonders;
¹³ Gather all the tribes of Jacob,^*
16   and give them their inheritance, as at the beginning.
¹⁷ Have mercy, O Lord, on the people called by your name,
   on Israel, whom you have named^* your firstborn,
¹⁸ Have pity on the city of your sanctuary,^*
   Jerusalem, the place of your dwelling.^*
19 Fill Zion with your majesty,^*
   and your temple^* with your glory.
²⁰ Bear witness to those whom you created in the beginning,
   and fulfil the prophecies spoken in your name.
²¹ Reward those who wait for you
   and let your prophets be found trustworthy.
²² Hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servants, according to your goodwill towards^* your people,
and all who are on the earth will know
   that you are the Lord, the God of the ages.

Psalm 79

Plea for Mercy for Jerusalem

A Psalm of Asaph.
¹ O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
   they have defiled your holy temple;
   they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
² They have given the bodies of your servants
   to the birds of the air for food,
   the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.
³ They have poured out their blood like water
   all around Jerusalem,
   and there was no one to bury them.
⁴ We have become a taunt to our neighbours,
   mocked and derided by those around us.

⁵ How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever?
   Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
⁶ Pour out your anger on the nations
   that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
   that do not call on your name.
⁷ For they have devoured Jacob
   and laid waste his habitation.

⁸ Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
   let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
   for we are brought very low.
⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation,
   for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name’s sake.
¹⁰ Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
   be known among the nations before our eyes.

¹¹ Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
   according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.
¹² Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbours
   the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!
¹³ Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
   will give thanks to you for ever;
   from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; ³⁴they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’

The Request of James and John

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ ³⁶And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ ³⁷And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ ³⁸But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ ³⁹They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’

41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’