Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s love;
I will tell of his loyalty from now on.
2 I will say, “Your love continues forever;
your loyalty goes on and on like the sky.”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with the man of my choice;
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will make your family continue forever.
Your kingdom will go on and on.’” Selah
15 Happy are the people who know how to praise you.
Lord, let them live in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice
and continually praise your goodness.
17 You are their glorious strength,
and in your kindness you honor our king.
18 Our king, our shield, belongs to the Lord,
to the Holy One of Israel.
8 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Since you have not listened to my messages, 9 I will send for all the peoples of the north,” says the Lord, “along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries. 10 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and bridegrooms, and the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp. 11 That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil,” says the Lord. “I will make that land a desert forever. 13 I will make happen all the terrible things I said about Babylonia—everything Jeremiah prophesied about all those foreign nations, the warnings written in this book. 14 Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done.”
7 You were running a good race. Who stopped you from following the true way? 8 This change did not come from the One who chose you. 9 Be careful! “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” 10 But I trust in the Lord that you will not believe those different ideas. Whoever is confusing you with such ideas will be punished.
11 My brothers and sisters, I do not teach that a man must be circumcised. If I teach circumcision, why am I still being attacked? If I still taught circumcision, my preaching about the cross would not be a problem. 12 I wish the people who are bothering you would castrate[a] themselves!
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.