Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Thanks to God for the Way He Judges

9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. I will tell of all the great things You have done. ² I will be glad and full of joy because of You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. ³ When those who hate me turn away, they fall and are lost from You. ⁴ For You have stood by my right actions. You sit on Your throne, and are right in how You judge. ⁵ You have spoken sharp words to the nations and have destroyed the sinful. You have thrown out their name forever and ever. ⁶ Those who fight against You are finished forever. You have destroyed their cities. They will be remembered no more. ⁷ But the Lord lives forever. He has set up His throne to say who is guilty or not. ⁸ He will punish the world by what is right. He will be fair as He rules the people.

⁹ The Lord also keeps safe those who suffer. He is a safe place in times of trouble. ¹⁰ Those who know Your name will put their trust in You. For You, O Lord, have never left alone those who look for You. ¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, Who lives in Zion! Tell all the nations what He has done! ¹² For He Who punishes for the blood of another remembers them. He does not forget the cry of those who suffer. ¹³ Have pity on me, O Lord! See how I suffer from those who hate me, You Who have lifted me up from the gates of death, ¹⁴ that I may tell of all Your praises in the gates of the people of Zion. There I will be full of joy because You save.

Zechariah Sees Horses during the Night

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah the man of God, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. ⁸ During the night while I was sleeping I saw a man traveling on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the narrow valley, with red, brown, and white horses behind him. ⁹ I asked, “My lord, what are these?” And the angel who was speaking with me said, “I will show you what these are.” ¹⁰ So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to travel all over the earth to keep watch.” ¹¹ And they said to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have looked over all the earth, and saw that the whole earth is at rest and in peace.”

The Lord Comforts Jerusalem

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of All, how long will You have no loving-pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for seventy years now.” ¹³ And the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me. ¹⁴ So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Make this known: ‘The Lord of All says, “I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵ But I am very angry with the nations who take it easy. When I was only a little angry, they added to the trouble.” ¹⁶ So the Lord says, “I will return to Jerusalem with loving-pity. My house will be built in it and all Jerusalem will be built again,” says the Lord of All. ¹⁷ Also make this known: ‘The Lord of All says, “My cities will again be filled with riches. The Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”’”

2 So you can say nothing because you are guilty when you say someone else is guilty. While you say someone is guilty, you are doing the same things he does. ² We know that God will say those who do such things are guilty. ³ Do you think God will punish others for doing wrong and let you keep sinning? ⁴ Do you forget about His loving-kindness to you? Do you forget how long He is waiting for you? You know that God is kind. He is trying to get you to be sorry for your sins and turn from them. ⁵ Because you are not sorry for your sins and will not turn from them, you will be punished even more on the day of God’s anger. God will be right in saying you are guilty. ⁶ He will give to every man what he should get for the things he has done. ⁷ Those who keep on doing good and are looking for His greatness and honor will receive life that lasts forever. ⁸ Those who love only themselves and do not obey the truth, but do what is wrong, will be punished by God. His anger will be on them. ⁹ Every Jew and every person who is not a Jew who sins will suffer and have great sorrow. ¹⁰ But God will give His greatness and honor and peace to all those who obey the truth. Both Jews and those who are not Jews will receive this. ¹¹ God does not show favor to one man more than to another.