Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid even if the earth shakes,
or the mountains fall into the sea,
3 even if the oceans roar and foam,
or the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river that brings joy to the city of God,
the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble and kingdoms shake.
God shouts and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord All-Powerful is with us;
the God of Jacob is our defender. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the amazing things he has done on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations;
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord All-Powerful is with us;
the God of Jacob is our defender. Selah
12 The messenger who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, “All the other prophets are saying King Ahab will win. You should agree with them and give the king a good answer.”
13 But Micaiah answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what my God says.”
14 When Micaiah came to Ahab, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth in Gilead or not?”
Micaiah answered, “Attack and win! They will be handed over to you.”
15 But Ahab said to Micaiah, “How many times do I have to tell you to speak only the truth to me in the name of the Lord?”
16 So Micaiah answered, “I saw the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘They have no leaders. They should go home and not fight.’”
17 Then Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I told you! He never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad.”
18 But Micaiah said, “Hear the message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with his heavenly army standing on his right and on his left. 19 The Lord said, ‘Who will trick King Ahab of Israel into attacking Ramoth in Gilead where he will be killed?’
“Some said one thing; some said another. 20 Then one spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will trick him.’
“The Lord asked, ‘How will you do it?’
21 “The spirit answered, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets and make them tell lies.’
“So the Lord said, ‘You will succeed in tricking him. Go and do it.’”
22 Micaiah said, “Ahab, the Lord has made your prophets lie to you, and the Lord has decided that disaster should come to you.”
Christ’s Death Takes Away Sins
23 So the copies of the real things in heaven had to be made clean by animal sacrifices. But the real things in heaven need much better sacrifices. 24 Christ did not go into the Most Holy Place made by humans, which is only a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself and is there now before God to help us. 25 The high priest enters the Most Holy Place once every year with blood that is not his own. But Christ did not offer himself many times. 26 Then he would have had to suffer many times since the world was made. But Christ came only once and for all time at just the right time to take away all sin by sacrificing himself. 27 Just as everyone must die once and then be judged, 28 so Christ was offered as a sacrifice one time to take away the sins of many people. And he will come a second time, not to offer himself for sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.