Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Psalm.

98 Sing ye unto Jehovah a new song: for he hath done wondrous things; his right hand and his holy arm hath wrought salvation for him.

² Jehovah hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the nations.

³ He hath remembered his loving-kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout aloud unto Jehovah, all the earth; break forth and shout for joy, and sing psalms.

⁵ Sing psalms unto Jehovah with the harp: with the harp, and the voice of a song;

⁶ With trumpets and sound of cornet, make a joyful noise before the King, Jehovah.

⁷ Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein;

⁸ Let the floods clap [their] hands; let the mountains sing for joy together,

⁹ Before Jehovah, for he cometh to judge the earth: he will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

3 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, [and] its breadth six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

² And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the justices, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

³ Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the justices, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

⁴ And the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, [O] peoples, nations, and languages,

⁵ that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;

⁶ and whosoever doth not fall down and worship shall that same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

⁷ Therefore at that time when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down [and] worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

⁸ Whereupon at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.

⁹ They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever!

¹⁰ Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;

¹¹ and [that] whosoever doth not fall down and worship, shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

¹² There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: these men, O king, regard thee not; they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up.

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then were these men brought before the king.

¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it of purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image that I have set up?

¹⁵ Now if ye be ready at the time that ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, [well]: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast that same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter.

¹⁷ If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver [us] out of thy hand, O king.

¹⁸ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up.

18 After these things I saw another angel descending out of the heaven, having great authority: and the earth was lightened with his glory.

² And he cried with a strong voice, saying, Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and has become the habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird;

³ because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have been enriched through the might of her luxury.

⁴ And I heard another voice out of the heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues:

⁵ for her sins have been heaped on one another up to the heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteousnesses.

⁶ Recompense her even as she has recompensed; and double [to her] double, according to her works. In the cup which she has mixed, mix to her double.

⁷ So much as she has glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so much torment and grief give to her. Because she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and I am not a widow; and I shall in no wise see grief:

⁸ for this reason in one day shall her plagues come, death and grief and famine, and she shall be burnt with fire; for strong [is the] Lord God who has judged her.

⁹ And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived luxuriously with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

¹⁰ standing afar off, through fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour thy judgment is come.

¹⁹ and cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and grieving, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all that had ships in the sea were enriched through her costliness! for in one hour she has been made desolate.

²⁰ Rejoice over her, heaven, and [ye] saints and apostles and prophets; for God has judged your judgment upon her.