Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Habakkuk has a problem

1 This is the message that God showed to his prophet Habakkuk.

The Lord answers Habakkuk

2 I will stand at my place on the wall of the city. I will watch from there. I will wait to see what God will say to me. I have complained to him and now I will see how he answers me.

² The Lord answered me. He said:

‘Write down what I will show to you. Make it very clear on the page where you write it. Then someone can easily read it, and he can tell the message to other people. ³ What I will show to you must happen at the time that I have decided. That is a future time, but it will certainly happen, as I have said. It may not happen very soon, but you must be patient. What I show to you will certainly happen at the right time, so wait for it.

⁴ Look now! The enemy is very proud. They do not want to do what is right.^[a] But righteous people will live because of their faith in God.

David wrote this song.

Trust the Lord^[a]

Paul thanks God for Timothy

1 This letter is from me, Paul. God chose me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. God sent me to tell people about the true life that he has promised us. We receive this life when we belong to Christ Jesus.

² I am writing to you, Timothy. You are like my own child, and I love you very much.

I pray that God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord will continue to help you and be kind to you. I pray that they will give you peace in your mind.

³ Like my ancestors, I serve God in a good way, that I know is right. When I pray to God, at night and during the day, I always remember to pray for you. And I thank God for you. ⁴ I remember how you wept when I said ‘goodbye’ to you. I want to see you again very much, so that I may be completely happy. ⁵ I remember how you really believe in Christ. Your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, already believed in Christ before you did. Now I am sure that you yourself also really trust him. ⁶ For that reason, I want you to remember the gift that God gave you when I put my hands on you.^[a] Use that gift more and more to serve God well. ⁷ Be strong, because God has given us his Spirit. And his Spirit does not cause us to be afraid. Instead, his Spirit causes us to be powerful to serve God. He helps us to love God and other people. And he helps us to control ourselves properly.

Paul tells Timothy to be a brave teacher for Christ

⁸ So do not be ashamed of the message about our Lord that we tell people. And do not be ashamed of me because I am in a prison. I am a prisoner because I serve Christ. You must understand that you will have trouble because you tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. So be ready to have the same kind of trouble as I have. Let God make you strong when you have trouble. ⁹ God is the one who has saved us. He has chosen us to serve him with good, clean lives. He did not save us because of any good things that we have done. He chose to do it because he is very kind. He decided to do that before time began, because of what Christ Jesus would do for us. ¹⁰ Now Christ Jesus has come to save us, and we have seen how kind God is. Christ has destroyed death's power over us. We have heard the good news that he brought to us. So now we understand about life with God for ever.

¹¹ That is the same good news that God has chosen me to tell to people. He has sent me as his apostle to teach his message to people. ¹² That is why I have these troubles. But I am not ashamed to be in prison. I have believed in Christ and I know him well. I know that I can trust him to keep his message safe. God has given me the authority to speak that message to people at this time.^[b] Christ has the power to keep it safe until that great day when he comes back.^[c]

¹³ You have heard me tell you about God's true message. Let those words be an example to you, so that you also teach what is true. Do this because you belong to Christ Jesus. Continue to trust him and to love his people. ¹⁴ God has given you his good message to keep safe. God's Holy Spirit, who lives in us, will help you to keep it safe.

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Help us to believe more and more in God.’

⁶ The Lord replied, ‘You may believe in God only a very little bit, like a very small seed. Even if you only believe that little bit, you could say to this tree, “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree would obey you.

⁷ Think about this. You may have a servant that is ploughing your land. Or you may have a servant that is taking care of your sheep. When he comes in from his work in the evening, you would not say to him, “Sit down and eat.” ⁸ No, you would not say that. You would say to your servant, “Prepare my meal for me. Dress yourself properly and bring the food to me. I will eat and drink first. You can eat when I have finished.” ⁹ Servants should do what their masters tell them to do. When they do that, their masters do not need to thank them. ¹⁰ It is the same with you. The Master tells you what you should do. So when you have done all of it, you should say, “We are not special servants. We have only done what we should do.” ’