Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Great Day of the Lord

4 “See, the day is coming. It is burning like a hot fire. And all those who are proud and those who do wrong will be like dry grass. The day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord of All. “Not a root or branch will be left to them. ² But for you who fear My name, the sun of what is right and good will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and dance like calves from the cattle-house.

A Call to Praise the Lord

98 Sing a new song to the Lord. For He has done great things. His right hand and His holy arm have won the fight for Him. ² The Lord has made His saving power known. He has shown to the nations how right and good He is. ³ He has shown His loving-kindness and how beautiful He is to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of our God.

⁴ Call out for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Sing out loud songs of joy and sing praises. ⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with harps, with harps and the voice of singing. ⁶ Call out for joy with the sound of horns before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise, and the world and all who live in it. ⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy ⁹ before the Lord. For He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be fair to the people.

⁶ Now this is what we tell you to do, Christian brothers. In the name of the Lord Jesus, keep away from any Christian who is lazy and who does not do what we taught you. ⁷ You know you should follow the way of life we lived when we were with you. We worked hard while we were there. ⁸ We did not eat anyone’s food without paying for it. We worked hard night and day so none of you would have to give us anything. ⁹ We could have asked you to give us food. But we did not so that you might follow our way of living. ¹⁰ When we were with you, we told you that if a man does not work, he should not eat. ¹¹ We hear that some are not working. But they are spending their time trying to see what others are doing. ¹² Our words to such people are that they should be quiet and go to work. They should eat their own food. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we say this. ¹³ But you, Christian brothers, do not get tired of doing good.

Jesus Tells of the House of God ^(A)

⁵ Some people were talking about the house of God. They were saying that the stones were beautiful and that many gifts had been given. Jesus said, ⁶ “As for these things you see, all these stones will be thrown down. Not one will be left on another.” ⁷ They asked Jesus, “Teacher, when will this take place? What are we to look for to show us these things are about to happen?” ⁸ He said, “Be careful that no one leads you the wrong way. For many people will come in My name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ The time is near. Do not follow them. ⁹ When you hear of wars and fighting in different places, do not be afraid. These things have to happen first, but the end is not yet.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Nations will have wars with other nations. Countries will fight against countries. ¹¹ The earth will shake and break apart in different places. There will be no food. There will be bad diseases among many people. Very special things will be seen in the sky that will make people much afraid.

¹² “But before all this happens, men will take hold of you and make it very hard for you. They will give you over to the places of worship and to the prisons. They will bring you in front of kings and the leaders of the people. This will all be done to you because of Me. ¹³ This will be a time for you to tell about Me. ¹⁴ Do not think about what you will say ahead of time. ¹⁵ For I will give you wisdom in what to say and I will help you say it. Those who are against you will not be able to stop you or say you are wrong.

¹⁶ “You will be handed over by your parents and your brothers and your family and your friends. They will kill some of you. ¹⁷ All men will hate you because of Me. ¹⁸ Yet not one hair of your head will be lost. ¹⁹ But stay true and your souls will have life.