Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Reigns
93 The Lord reigns! He is clothed in majesty;
the Lord is clothed,
and he is girded[a] with strength.
Indeed, the world is well established,
and cannot be shaken.
2 Your throne has been established since time immemorial;
you are king from eternity.
3 The rivers have flooded, Lord;
the rivers have spoken aloud,
the rivers have lifted up their crushing waves.
4 More than the sound of surging waters—
the majestic waves of the sea—
the Lord on high is majestic.
5 Your decrees are very trustworthy,
and holiness always befits your house, Lord.
Azariah the Prophet Encourages Asa
15 After this, the Spirit of God came to rest on Oded’s son Azariah, 2 so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:
“Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. 3 Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law, 4 but they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress. When they sought him, he let them become reacquainted with him.
5 “During those days, it wasn’t safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil[a] disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories. 6 Nation battled nation, and city fought city, because God was afflicting them all with every kind of distress. 7 Now as for you,[b] be strong[c] and never be discouraged,[d] because there will be reward for your[e] work.”
Asa Institutes Reforms
8 Encouraged by what Oded’s son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa[f] removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the Lord’s Temple. 9 Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They all assembled in Jerusalem during the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them. 12 They also entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul, 13 and they further agreed that[g] whoever would refuse to seek the Lord God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman. 14 They also made a vow to the Lord with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns. 15 Everybody in Judah was very glad to make their oath, because they had made their vow with all their heart and had sought him with all of their might,[h] and they found him! The Lord also gave them rest in their surrounding lands.
15 The angel who[a] was talking to me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. 16 The city was cubic in shape: its length was the same as its width. He measured the city with his rod, and it measured at 12,000 stadia:[b]Its length, width, and height were the same. 17 He also measured its wall. According to the human measurement that the angel was using, it was 144 cubits.[c] 18 Its wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.
19 The foundations of the city wall were decorated with all kinds of gems: The first foundation[d] was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian,[e] the seventh chrysolite,[f] the eighth beryl,[g] the ninth topaz,[h] the tenth chrysoprase,[i] the eleventh jacinth[j] and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each gate was made of a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.
22 I saw no temple in it, because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple.
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