Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name;
every day tell how he saves us.
3 Tell the nations of his glory;
tell all peoples the miracles he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised at all times.
He should be honored more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are only idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 The Lord has glory and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his Temple.
7 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Praise the glory of the Lord’s name.
Bring an offering and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 Worship the Lord because he is holy.
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord is king.”
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it shout.
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with fairness
and the peoples with truth.
The King of Babylon Will Fall
3 The Lord will take away the Israelites’ hard work and will comfort them. They will no longer have to work hard as slaves. 4 On that day Israel will sing this song about the king of Babylon:
The cruel king who ruled us is finished;
his angry rule is finished!
5 The Lord has broken the scepter of evil rulers
and taken away their power.
6 The king of Babylon struck people in anger
again and again.
He ruled nations in anger
and continued to hurt them.
7 But now, the whole world rests and is quiet.
Now the people begin to sing.
8 Even the pine trees are happy,
and the cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king has fallen,
so no one will ever cut us down again.”
9 The place of the dead is excited
to meet you when you come.
It wakes the spirits of the dead,
the leaders of the world.
It makes kings of all nations
stand up from their thrones to greet you.
10 All these leaders will make fun of you
and will say,
“Now you are weak, as we are.
Now you are just like us.”
11 Your pride has been sent down to the place of the dead.
The music from your harps goes with it.
Flies are spread out like your bed beneath you,
and worms cover your body like a blanket.
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard the reports about Jesus. 2 So he said to his servants, “Jesus is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”
3 Sometime before this, Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him into prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, who had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. 4 John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to Herodias.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they believed John was a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests, and she pleased him. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her anything she wanted. 8 Herodias told her daughter what to ask for, so she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 Although King Herod was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard him. So Herod ordered that what she asked for be done. 10 He sent soldiers to the prison to cut off John’s head. 11 And they brought it on a platter and gave it to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 John’s followers came and got his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.