Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 What I would give to have my words taken down,
to have them inscribed for posterity on a scroll.
24 No! More than that!
To have them chiseled with iron filled with lead—
carved in stone for all eternity.
25 Besides, I know my Redeemer lives,
and in the end He will rise and take His stand on the earth.
26 And though my skin has been stripped off,
still, in my flesh, I will see God.
27 I, myself, will see Him:
not some stranger, but actually me, with these eyes.
Toward this end, my deepest longings pine away within my chest.
Psalm 17
A prayer of David.
1 Listen, O Eternal One, to my cry for justice.
These words of mine are true—turn Your ear toward me.
2 Announce that I am free of all the charges against me—only You can see into my heart to know that to be true.
Treat me with fairness; look at me with justice.
3 You have searched me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.
You’ve found nothing against me.
I have resolved not to sin in what I say.
4 The path violent men have followed,
I will not travel. Violence is not my way.
Your ways and Your voice now guide my journey.
5 I will press on—moving steadfastly forward along Your path.
I will not look back. I will not stumble.
6 I am crying aloud to You, O True God, for I long to know Your answer.
Hear me, O God. Hear my plea. Hear my prayer for help.
7 Put Your marvelous love on display for all to see.
Liberator of those who long for shelter beside You,
set them safely away from their enemies, ever welcomed by grace.
8 Keep close watch over me as the apple of Your eye;
shelter me in the shadow of Your wings.
9 Protect me from the wicked who are poised to attack,
from the enemies swarming around me and closing in quickly.
On that day—though men and women have spent lifetimes scanning the skies hoping that “perhaps today” is the day of salvation—on that day, the confessed lovers of God and Jesus will glow with all the wonder of children at Christmas.
There are clear premonitions in the Bible about what we can expect on that day; but can anyone, with our rudimentary human knowledge, know what to expect? Jesus confessed that even He did not know the day or the hour when these final moments will play out, so how can we truly know? Likely this fear of the unknown is what took root and began to spread like weeds within the Thessalonians’ community. Where fear takes root, faith withers; and people who once focused on the bright hope of the Son turn away.
2 Since, brothers and sisters, we are on the topic of the coming of our Lord Jesus the Anointed and how we will all gather together to meet Him, we ask 2 that you don’t let your minds get quickly rattled or become anxious because of someone else’s so-called “spiritual revelation” or because someone gave you a message or claimed to know of a letter allegedly from us reporting that the day of the Lord has already come! 3 Don’t be deceived by anyone! That day, that amazing day, won’t come until after the great rebellion and the unveiling of the rebellious one.[a] As the spawn of death, he delights in destruction. 4 He sets himself up as the great adversary of God and vies for a place above all other so-called gods or objects of worship. If it were possible, he would even take a seat—yes, exalt himself—in the temple of the one true God, declaring that he himself is God! 5 Don’t you remember me telling you all this the last time we were together?
13 But this is not you, dearly beloved brothers and sisters of the Lord. We cannot help but thank God for you at all times, because from the beginning He handpicked you for salvation through the Spirit’s sanctifying work and your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this when we shared our good news with you. Now you can take part in the glory of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. 15 So, brothers and sisters, all you need to do now is stand firm and hold tight to the line of teachings we have passed on to you, whether in person or in a letter. 16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus (the Anointed One Himself) and God our Father (who has loved us, comforted us eternally, and given us a good hope by His grace) bring comfort to your hearts and strengthen your wills to accomplish every good work and word.
27 Another group came to test Him—this time from the Sadducees, a rival party of the Pharisees, who believe that there is no resurrection.
Sadducees: 28 Teacher, Moses wrote in the Hebrew Scriptures that a man must marry his brother’s wife and the new couple should bear children for his brother if his brother dies without heirs.[a] 29 Well, once there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife and then died without fathering children. 30 The second [took her as his wife and then he died childless,][b] 31 and then the third, and so on through the seven. They all died leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died too. 33 Here’s our question: in the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her for a while? Will she be the wife of seven men at once?
Jesus: 34 The children of this era marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain the resurrection of the dead in the coming era do not marry and are not given in marriage. 36 They are beyond mortality; they are on the level of heavenly messengers; they are children of God and children of the resurrection. 37 Since you brought up the issue of resurrection, even Moses made clear in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are, in fact, raised. After all, he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[c] 38 By Moses’ time, they were all dead, but God isn’t God of the dead, but of the living. So all live to God.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.