Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Praise in Zion

87 The city God built stands on the holy mountains. ² The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other places of Jacob. ³ Great things are said about you, O city of God. ⁴ I will say that Rahab and Babylon are among those who know Me. Look, Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia say, “This one was born there.” ⁵ But it will be said of Zion, “This one and that one were born in her.” And the Most High Himself will make her strong. ⁶ The Lord will write in the book of the people, “This one was born there.” ⁷ Then those who sing and those who play music will say, “All my wells of joy are in you.”

⁸ Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, and those who cannot hear, even though they have ears. ⁹ All the nations have gathered together so the people may be together. Who among them can make this known, and tell us what has happened before? Let them bring people who can show us that they are right. Let them hear and say, “It is true.” ¹⁰ “You can speak for Me,” says the Lord. “You are My servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. No God was made before Me, and there will be none after Me. ¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord. There is no one who saves except Me. ¹² I have spoken and saved and have made things known, and there was no strange god among you. You can speak for Me,” says the Lord, “and I am God. ¹³ I am God and always will be. No one is able to take anything out of My hand. I do something, and who can change it?”

¹³ I am speaking to you people who are not Jews. As long as I am a missionary to you, I want you to know how important my job is. ¹⁴ I do this so it will make my own people, the Jews, jealous. Then it may be that some will be saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁵ Because the Jews have been put aside, many other people in the world have been saved from the punishment of sin. Think what it will be like when they are also gathered in. It will be like the dead coming back to life!

¹⁶ If the first loaf is holy, all the bread is holy. If the root is holy, all the branches are holy.

¹⁷ But some of the branches (who are the Jews) were broken off. You who are not Jews were put in the place where the branches had been broken off. Now you are sharing the rich root of the olive tree. ¹⁸ Do not be proud. Do not think you are better than the branches that were broken off. If you are proud, remember that you do not hold the root. It is the root that holds you. ¹⁹ You may say, “Branches were broken off to make room for me.” ²⁰ It is true. They were broken off because they did not put their trust in Christ. And you are there only because of your faith. Do not be proud. Instead, be afraid. ²¹ God did not keep the first branches (who are the Jews) on the tree. Then watch, or He will not keep you on the tree. ²² We see how kind God is. It shows how hard He is also. He is hard on those who fall away. But He is kind to you if you keep on trusting Him. If you do not, He will cut you off. ²³ If the Jews would put their trust in Christ, God would put them back into the tree. He has power to do that. ²⁴ You people who are not Jews were cut off from a wild olive tree. Instead of being there, you were put into a garden olive tree which is not the right place for you to grow. It would be easy for God to put the Jews back onto their own olive tree because they are the branches that belong there.

²⁵ Christian brothers, I want you to understand this truth which is no longer a secret. It will keep you from thinking you are so wise. Some Jews have become hard until the right amount of people who are not Jews come to God. ²⁶ Then all the Jews will be saved, as the Holy Writings say, “The One Who saves from the punishment of sin will come out of Jerusalem. He will turn the Jews from doing sinful things.”^{(A) 27} “And this is My promise to them when I take away their sins.” ^(B)

²⁸ The Jews are fighting against the Good News. Because they hate the Good News, it has helped you who are not Jews. But God still loves the Jews because He has chosen them and because of His promise to their early fathers. ²⁹ God does not change His mind when He chooses men and gives them His gifts.