Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song of praise by David.
145 I will highly praise you, my God, the king.
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great, and he should be highly praised.
His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next.
Each generation will talk about your mighty acts.
5 I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty
and the miraculous things you have done.
6 People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds,
and I will tell about your greatness.
7 They will announce what they remember of your great goodness,
and they will joyfully sing about your righteousness.
8 The Lord is merciful, compassionate, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
3 The shields of his warriors are painted red.
His soldiers have red uniforms.
The metal on his chariots flashes fiery red,
so do the spears when they are waved
on the day he prepares for battle.
4 Chariots are racing madly through the streets,
rushing this way and that in the city squares.
They look like torches, like lightning, as they dart about.
5 He remembers his best fighting men.
They stumble over themselves as they march.
They hurry to Nineveh’s wall.
The shield has been set up for the battering ram.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace melts away.
Nineveh’s Treasures Will Be Taken
7 The Lord has determined:
“It will be stripped.
It will be carried away.
Its young women will be mourning like doves
as they beat their breasts.”
8 Nineveh was like a pool of water from its first day on.
But now its people are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!”
But no one turns around.
9 Steal the silver! Steal the gold!
There is no end to what is stored here—
everything a person could ever want.
10 Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, demolished.
Hearts are melting.
Knees are knocking.
Every stomach becomes upset.
Every face turns pale.
Nineveh Will Be Destroyed
11 Where is the lions’ den,
that feeding place for young lions?
Where are the lion, the lioness, and the lion cub who moved about
with no one to terrify them?
12 The lion tore its prey to pieces to feed its cubs.
It strangled ⌞the prey⌟ for its mates.
It used to fill its caves with torn carcasses
and its dens with torn flesh.
13 “I am against you, Nineveh,” declares the Lord of Armies.
“I will send your chariots up in smoke,
and a sword will kill your young lions.
I will remove your prey from the earth,
and no one will ever hear the voice of your messengers again.”
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves! Don’t you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you’re failing the test? 6 I hope that you will realize that we haven’t failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you won’t do anything wrong. It’s not that we want to prove that we’ve passed the test. Rather, we want you to do whatever is right, even if we seem to have failed. 8 We can’t do anything against the truth but only to help the truth. 9 We’re glad when we are weak and you are strong. We are also praying for your improvement.
10 That’s why I’m writing this letter while I’m not with you. When I am with you I don’t want to be harsh by using the authority that the Lord gave me. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.
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