Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A song of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Use your strength.
Come and save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God of heaven’s armies,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people tears.
You have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us.
Our enemies make fun of us.
7 God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
17 Help the man you have chosen.
Make this human being strong for your service.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
The Day of Punishment
14 The Lord’s day of judging is coming. The wealth you have taken will be divided among you.
2 I will bring all the nations together to fight Jerusalem. They will capture the city and rob the houses. The women will be raped. Half the people will be taken away as captives. But the rest won’t be taken from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go to war against those nations. He will fight as in a day of battle. 4 On that day he will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will split in two. A deep valley will run east and west. Half the mountain will move north. And half will move south. 5 You will run through this mountain valley to the other side. You will run as you ran from the earthquake. That was when Uzziah was king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come. And all the holy ones will be with him.
6 On that day there will be no light, cold or frost. 7 There will be no other day like it. The Lord knows when it will come. There will be no day or night. Even at evening it will still be light.
8 At that time fresh water will flow from Jerusalem. Half of it will flow east to the Dead Sea. And half of it will flow west to the Mediterranean Sea. It will flow summer and winter.
9 Then the Lord will be king over the whole world. At that time there will be only one Lord. And his name will be the only name.
A Life That Pleases God
4 Brothers, now I have some other things to tell you. We taught you how to live in a way that will please God. And you are living that way. Now we ask you and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live that way more and more. 2 You know what we told you to do by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 God wants you to be holy and to stay away from sexual immorality. 4 He wants each one of you to learn how to take a wife[a] in a way that is holy and honorable. 5 Don’t give in to lust like people who do not know God. 6 So do not wrong your brother or cheat him in this way. The Lord will punish people who do those things. We have already told you and warned you about that. 7 God called us to be holy and does not want us to live in sin. 8 So the person who refuses to obey this teaching is refusing to obey God, not man. And God is the One who gives us his Holy Spirit.
9 We do not need to write to you about having love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. God has already taught you to love each other. 10 And truly you do love the brothers in all of Macedonia. Brothers, now we encourage you to love them more and more.
11 Do all you can to live a peaceful life. Take care of your own business. Do your own work. We have already told you to do these things. 12 If you do, then people who are not believers will respect you. And you will not have to depend on others for what you need.
The Lord’s Coming
13 Brothers, we want you to know about those who have died. We do not want you to be sad as others who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again. So, because of Jesus, God will bring together with Jesus those who have died. 15 What we tell you now is the Lord’s own message. We who are living now may still be living when the Lord comes again. We who are living at that time will be with the Lord, but not before those who have already died. 16 The Lord himself will come down from heaven. There will be a loud command with the voice of the archangel[b] and with the trumpet call of God. And those who have died and were in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, those who are still alive at that time will be gathered up with them. We will be taken up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So comfort each other with these words.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.