Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Safe Place for Those Who Trust in the Lord

37 Do not trouble yourself because of sinful men. Do not want to be like those who do wrong. ² For they will soon dry up like the grass. Like the green plant they will soon die. ³ Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. ⁴ Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it. ⁶ He will make your being right and good show as the light, and your wise actions as the noon day.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and be willing to wait for Him. Do not trouble yourself when all goes well with the one who carries out his sinful plans. ⁸ Stop being angry. Turn away from fighting. Do not trouble yourself. It leads only to wrong-doing. ⁹ For those who do wrong will be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord will be given the earth.

Assyrians Talk of Taking Jerusalem Again

⁸ Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹ The king of Assyria was told, “See, King Tirhakah of Cush has come out to fight against you.” So he sent men again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust lie to you by saying that Jerusalem will not be given into the power of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ You have heard how the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the lands. And will you be saved? ¹² Did the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed save them? Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar, were destroyed. ¹³ Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, the city of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’”

¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the men from Assyria, and read it. Then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread the letter out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord the God of Israel, You sit on Your throne above the cherubim. You are the God, and You alone, of all the nations of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Turn Your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has spoken against the living God. ¹⁷ O Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. ¹⁸ They have thrown their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, made from wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, I beg You to save us from his power. Then all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are God, O Lord.”

Isaiah’s Word to the King

²⁰ Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have heard your prayer to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’

Sennacherib’s Death

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 men among the Assyrian tents. When those left alive got up early in the morning, they saw all the dead bodies. ³⁶ Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. ³⁷ As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they ran away to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Words to the Church in Pergamum

¹² “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Pergamum: ‘The One Who has the sharp sword that cuts both ways, says this: ¹³ I know where you live. It is the place where Satan sits. I know that you are true to Me. You did not give up and turn away from your faith in Me, even when Antipas was killed. He was faithful in speaking for Me. He was killed in front of you where Satan is. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you. You have some people who follow the teaching of Balaam. He taught Balak to set a trap for the Jews. He taught them to eat food that had been given as a gift in worship to false gods and to do sex sins. ¹⁵ You also have some who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the same way. ¹⁶ Be sorry for your sins and turn from them. If you do not, I will come to you right away. I will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the hidden bread from heaven to everyone who has power and wins. I will give each of them a white stone also. A new name will be written on it. No one will know the name except the one who receives it!’

Words to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Thyatira: ‘The Son of God Who has eyes like fire and Whose feet are like shining brass, says this: ¹⁹ I know what you are doing. I know of your love and faith. I know how you have worked and how you have waited long and have not given up. I know that you are working harder now than you did at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: You are allowing Jezebel who calls herself a preacher to teach my servants. She is leading them in the wrong way and they are doing sex sins. And they are eating food that has been given as a gift in worship to false gods. ²¹ I gave her time to be sorry for her sins and turn from them. She does not want to turn from her sex sins. ²² See! I will throw her on a bed. Those who do sex sins with her will suffer much trouble and pain. I will let them suffer unless they are sorry for the sins they have done with her and turn from them. ²³ And I will kill her children. All the churches will know that I am the One Who looks deep into the hearts and minds. I will give you whatever is coming to you because of your work. ²⁴ But the rest of you there in the city of Thyatira have not followed this false teaching. You have not learned what they call the secrets of Satan. So I will put no other load on you. ²⁵ But hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To the one who has power and wins and does what I want him to do, I will give the right and the power over the nations. ²⁷ He will be leader over them using a piece of iron. And they will be broken in pieces like pots of clay. My Father has given Me this right and power. ²⁸ And I will give him the Morning Star. ²⁹ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!’