Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song of thanks.
100 Earth, sing to the Lord!
2 Be happy as you serve the Lord!
Come before him with happy songs!
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we belong to him.
We are his people, the sheep he takes care of.
4 Come through the gates to his Temple giving thanks to him.
Enter his courtyards with songs of praise.
Honor him and bless his name.
5 The Lord is good!
There is no end to his faithful love.
We can trust him forever and ever!
A Message About Babylon
50 This is the message the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon and its people.
2 “Announce this to all nations!
Lift up a flag and announce the message!
Speak the whole message and say,
‘The nation of Babylon will be captured.
The god Bel will be put to shame.
The god Marduk will be very afraid.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.
Her gods will be filled with terror.’
3 A nation from the north will attack Babylon.
That nation will make Babylon like an empty desert.
No one will live there.
Both men and animals will run away.”
4 The Lord says, “At that time
the people of Israel and the people of Judah will be together.
They will cry and cry together,
and together, they will go look for the Lord their God.
5 They will ask how to go to Zion.
They will start to go in that direction.
They will say, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord.
Let’s make an agreement that will last forever.
Let’s make an agreement that we will never forget.’
6 “My people have been like lost sheep.
Their shepherds led them the wrong way
and caused them to wander away into the mountains and hills.
They forgot where their resting place was.
7 They were attacked by all who saw them.
And their attackers said,
‘We were not wrong to attack them
because they sinned against the Lord.
They should have stayed close to him, their true resting place.
The Lord is the one their fathers trusted in.’
17 Obey your leaders. Be willing to do what they say. They are responsible for your spiritual welfare, so they are always watching to protect you. Obey them so that their work will give them joy, not grief. It won’t help you to make it hard for them.
18 Continue praying for us. We feel right about what we do, because we always try to do what is best. 19 And I beg you to pray that God will send me back to you soon. I want this more than anything else.
20-21 I pray that the God of peace will give you every good thing you need so that you can do what he wants. God is the one who raised from death our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of his sheep. He raised him because Jesus sacrificed his blood to begin the new agreement that never ends. I pray that God will work through Jesus Christ to do the things in us that please him. To him be glory forever. Amen.
22 My brothers and sisters, I beg you to listen patiently to what I have said. I wrote this letter to strengthen you. And it is not very long. 23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy is out of prison. If he comes to me soon, we will both come to see you.
24 Give my greetings to all your leaders and to all God’s people. All those from Italy send you their greetings.
25 God’s grace be with you all.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International