Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s love;
I will tell of his loyalty from now on.
2 I will say, “Your love continues forever;
your loyalty goes on and on like the sky.”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with the man of my choice;
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will make your family continue forever.
Your kingdom will go on and on.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your miracles
and for your loyalty in the meeting of your holy ones.
6 Who in heaven is equal to the Lord?
None of the angels is like the Lord.
7 When the holy ones meet, it is God they fear.
He is more frightening than all who surround him.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy.
9 You rule the mighty sea
and calm the stormy waves.
10 You crushed the sea monster Rahab;
by your power you scattered your enemies.
11 The skies and the earth belong to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
Love and truth are in all you do.
15 Happy are the people who know how to praise you.
Lord, let them live in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice
and continually praise your goodness.
17 You are their glorious strength,
and in your kindness you honor our king.
18 Our king, our shield, belongs to the Lord,
to the Holy One of Israel.
The Good Branch
14 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will do the good thing I promised to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 In those days and at that time,
I will make a good branch sprout from David’s family.
He will do what is fair and right in the land.
16 At that time Judah will be saved,
and the people of Jerusalem will live in safety.
The branch will be named:
The Lord Does What Is Right.”
17 This is what the Lord says: “Someone from David’s family will always sit on the throne of the family of Israel. 18 And there will always be priests from the family of Levi. They will always stand before me to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me.”
19 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 20 “This is what the Lord says: I have an agreement with day and night that they will always come at the right times. If you could change that agreement, 21 only then could you change my agreement with David and Levi. Only then would my servant David not have a descendant ruling as king on David’s throne. And only then would the family of Levi not be priests serving me in the Temple. 22 But I will give many descendants to my servant David and to the family group of Levi who serve me in the Temple. They will be as many as the stars in the sky that no one can count. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore that no one can measure.”
23 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah, saying: 24 “Jeremiah, have you heard what the people are saying? They say: ‘The Lord turned away from the two families of Israel and Judah that he chose.’ Now they don’t think of my people as a nation anymore!”
25 This is what the Lord says: “If I had not made my agreement with day and night, and if I had not made the laws for the sky and earth, 26 only then would I turn away from Jacob’s descendants. And only then would I not let the descendants of David my servant rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will be kind to them and cause good things to happen to them again.”
Who Is the Trusted Servant?
41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”
42 The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 43 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.
47 “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.