Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Thankful for God’s Care

62 My soul is quiet and waits for God alone. He is the One Who saves me. ² He alone is my rock and the One Who saves me. He is my strong place. I will not be shaken.

³ How long will all of you go against a man to break him down, that you may kill him, like a wall that no longer stands straight, like a fence ready to fall? ⁴ They have talked only about throwing him down from his high place. They find joy in lies. They pray with their mouth that good will come. But inside they hope that bad will come instead.

⁵ My soul is quiet and waits for God alone. My hope comes from Him. ⁶ He alone is my rock and the One Who saves me. He is my strong place. I will not be shaken. ⁷ My being safe and my honor rest with God. My safe place is in God, the rock of my strength. ⁸ Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a safe place for us.

⁹ Men who are not important come to nothing. Men who are important are a lie. When weighed they go up. Together they weigh less than a breath. ¹⁰ Do not get money in a wrong way or be proud in stolen things. If you get more riches, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ God has spoken once. I have heard this twice: Power belongs to God. ¹² And loving-kindness belongs to You, O Lord. For You pay every man by the work he has done.

⁸ The Lord God has promised by Himself. The Lord God of All has said, “I hate the pride of Jacob, and I hate his strong-places, so I will give up the city and everything in it.” ⁹ If ten men are left in one house, they will die. ¹⁰ The dead man’s brother, who is to take care of the body, will lift him up to carry his bones from the house. And he will say to the one inside the house, “Is anyone else with you?” That one will say, “No.” Then he will say, “Keep quiet! For the name of the Lord must not be spoken.” ¹¹ For the Lord is going to say that the great house must be broken apart and the small house into pieces.

¹² Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned what is fair into poison. You have turned what is right and good into something bitter. ¹³ You who have joy in Lo-debar, and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?” ¹⁴ The Lord God of All says, “I am going to raise up a nation against you, O people of Israel. And they will bring much suffering upon you from the gate of Hamath to the river of the Arabah.”

Words to the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Laodicea: ‘The One Who says, Let it be so, the One Who is faithful, the One Who tells what is true, the One Who made everything in God’s world, says this: ¹⁵ I know what you are doing. You are not cold or hot. I wish you were one or the other. ¹⁶ But because you are warm, and not hot or cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ You say that you are rich and that you need nothing, but you do not know that you are so troubled in mind and heart. You are poor and blind and without clothes. ¹⁸ You should buy gold from Me that has been tested by fire that you may be rich. Buy white clothes to dress yourself so the shame of not wearing clothes will be taken away. Buy medicine to put on your eyes so you can see. ¹⁹ I speak strong words to those I love and I punish them. Have a strong desire to please the Lord. Be sorry for your sins and turn from them. ²⁰ See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and we will eat together. ²¹ I will allow the one who has power and wins to sit with Me on My throne, as I also had power and won and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²² You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”