Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

98 A psalm for David himself. The Lord hath reigned, let the people be angry: he that sitteth on the cherubims: let the earth be moved.

² The Lord is great in Sion, and high above all people.

³ Let them give praise to thy great name: for it is terrible and holy:

⁴ And the king's honour loveth judgment. Thou hast prepared directions: thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob.

⁵ Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore his footstool, for it is holy.

⁶ Moses and Aaron among his priests: and Samuel among them that call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them:

⁷ He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. They kept his testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them.

⁸ Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God: thou wast a merciful God to them, and taking vengeance on all their inventions.

⁹ Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore at his holy mountain: for the Lord our God is holy.

3 King Nabuchodonosor made a statue of gold, of sixty cubits high, and six cubits broad, and he set it up in the plain of Dura of the province of Babylon.

² Then Nabuchodonosor the king sent to call together the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, the rulers, and governors, and all the chief men of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

³ Then the nobles, the magistrates, and the judges, the captains, and rulers, and the great men that were placed in authority, and all the princes of the provinces, were gathered together to come to the dedication of the statue, which king Nabuchodonosor had set up. And they stood before the statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

⁴ Then a herald cried with a strong voice: To you it is commanded, O nations, tribes, and languages:

⁵ That in the hour that you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, and of the flute, and of the harp, of the sackbut, and of the psaltery, and of the symphony, and of all kind of music; ye fall down and adore the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor hath set up.

⁶ But if any man shall not fall down and adore, he shall the same hour be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

⁷ Upon this therefore, at the time when all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music: all the nations, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the golden statue which king Nabuchodonosor had set up.

⁸ And presently at that very time some Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,

⁹ And said to king Nabuchodonosor: O king, live for ever:

¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man that shall hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, and the harp, of the sackbut, and the psaltery, of the symphony, and of all kind of music, shall prostrate himself, and adore the golden statue:

¹¹ And that if any man shall not fall down and adore, he should be cast into a furnace of burning fire.

¹² Now there are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the works of the province of Babylon, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago: these men, O king, have slighted thy decree: they worship not thy gods, nor do they adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.

¹³ Then Nabuchodonosor in fury, and in wrath, commanded that Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago should be brought: who immediately were brought before the king.

¹⁴ And Nabuchodonosor the king spoke to them, and said: Is it true, O Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the golden statue that I have set up?

¹⁵ Now therefore if you be ready at what hour soever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, harp, sackbut, and psaltery, and symphony, and of all kind of music, prostrate yourselves, and adore the statue which I have made: but if you do not adore, you shall be cast the same hour into the furnace of burning fire: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?

¹⁶ Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago answered and said to king Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter.

¹⁷ For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, O king.

¹⁸ But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up.

18 And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory.

² And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird:

³ Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies.

⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.

⁵ For her sins have reached unto heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities.

⁶ Render to her as she also hath rendered to you; and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup wherein she hath mingled, mingle ye double unto her.

⁷ As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her; because she saith in her heart: I sit a queen, and am no widow; and sorrow I shall not see.

⁸ Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire; because God is strong, who shall judge her.

⁹ And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning:

¹⁰ Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: Alas! alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come.

¹⁹ And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, wherein all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason of her prices: for in one hour she is made desolate.

²⁰ Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.