Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built it on the waters.
He set it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts.
They must not have worshiped idols.
They must not have made promises in the name of a false god.
5 It is they who will receive a blessing from the Lord.
The God who saves them will declare them right.
6 They try to follow God.
They look to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
8 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, the powerful warrior.
9 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
10 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord of heaven’s armies—
he is the glorious king. Selah
18 The King’s name is the Lord of heaven’s armies.
He says, “As surely as I live,
a powerful leader will come.
He will be strong as great Mount Tabor is higher than other mountains.
He will be mighty as Mount Carmel is higher than the sea.
19 People of Egypt, pack your things
to be taken away as captives.
This is because Memphis will be destroyed.
The cities will be ruins, and no one will live there.
20 “Egypt is like a beautiful young cow.
But a horsefly is coming
from the north to attack her.
21 The hired soldiers in Egypt’s army
are like fat calves.
They will all turn and run away together.
They will not stand strong against the attack.
Their time of destruction is coming.
They will soon be punished.
22 Egypt is like a hissing snake that is trying to escape.
The enemy comes closer and closer.
They will come against Egypt with axes.
They are like men who cut down trees.
23 They will chop down Egypt’s army
as if it were a great forest,” says the Lord.
“There are more enemy soldiers than locusts.
There are too many soldiers to count.
24 The people of Egypt will be ashamed.
They will be handed over to the enemy from the north.”
25 The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: “Very soon I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes. And I will punish Egypt, her king and her gods. And I will punish the people who depend on the king. 26 I will let all those people be defeated by their enemies. And those enemies want to kill them. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But in the future, Egypt will live in peace as it once did,” says the Lord.
A Message to Israel
27 “People of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid.
Don’t be frightened, Israel.
I will surely save you from those faraway places.
I will save your children from the lands where they are captives.
The people of Jacob will have peace and safety again.
And no one will make them afraid.
28 People of Jacob, my servants, do not be afraid.
I am with you,” says the Lord.
“I scattered you to many different nations.
And I will completely destroy all those nations.
But I will not completely destroy you.
I will punish you fairly.
But I cannot let you escape your punishment.”
5 The One who was sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”
6 The One on the throne said to me: “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega,[a] the Beginning and the End. I will give free water from the spring of the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. 7 Anyone who wins the victory will receive this. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But those who are cowards, who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who are sexually immoral, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
9 One of the seven angels came to me. This was one of the angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last troubles. He said, “Come with me. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 The angel carried me away by the Spirit to a very large and high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It was shining with the glory of God. It was shining bright like a very expensive jewel, like a jasper. It was clear as crystal. 12 The city had a great high wall with 12 gates. There were 12 angels at the gates. On each gate was written the name of 1 of the 12 tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. 14 The walls of the city were built on 12 foundation stones. On the stones were written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod made of gold. He had this rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was built in a square. Its length was equal to its width. The angel measured the city with the rod. The city was 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. 17 The angel also measured the wall. It was 216 feet high, by man’s measurement. That was the measurement the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundation stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them. The first cornerstone was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, the fourth was emerald, 20 the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. 21 The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold. The gold was clear as glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb are the city’s temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is the city’s lamp. 24 By its light the people of the world will walk. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 The city’s gates will never be shut on any day, because there is no night there. 26 The greatness and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter the city. No one who does shameful things or tells lies will ever go into it. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.