Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Davidic[a]
Patiently Trust in God
37 Don’t be angry because of those who do evil,
do not be jealous because of those who commit iniquity.
2 Indeed, they soon will wither like grass,
and like green herbs they will fade away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as a light,
and your justice as the noonday sun.[b]
7 Be silent in the Lord’s presence
and wait patiently for him.
Don’t be angry because of the one whose way prospers
or the one who implements evil schemes.
8 Calm your anger and abandon wrath.
Don’t be angry—
it only leads to evil.
9 Those who do evil will perish.
But those who wait[c] on the Lord will inherit the land.
Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah(A)
18 Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of[a] Elah’s son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz’ son Hezekiah became king. 2 He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah’s daughter Abi. 3 He did what the Lord considered to be right, according to everything that his ancestor David had done.
Hezekiah’s Reforms(B)
4 He removed the high places, demolished the sacred pillars, and tore down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted, because the Israelis had been burning incense to it right up until that time. Hezekiah[b] called it a piece of brass.[c] 5 He trusted the Lord God of Israel, and after him there were none like him among all the kings of Judah, 6 because he depended on the Lord, not abandoning pursuit of him, and keeping the Lord’s commands that he had commanded Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him. 8 He attacked the Philistines, invading Gaza and its borders from watchtower to fortified garrison.
28 Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, “Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say. 29 This is what the king says:
‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, because he will prove to be unable to deliver you from my control.[a] 30 And don’t let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by telling you, “The Lord will certainly deliver us and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace with me and come out to me! Each of you will eat from his own vine. Each will eat from his own fig tree. And each of you will drink water from his own cistern 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, one overflowing with grain and new wine, a land filled with bread and vineyards, with olive trees and honey, so you may live and not die.”
‘But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us!” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by[b] the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my control?[c] 35 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my control[d], so that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from me?’”[e]
36 But the people remained silent and did not answer with even so much as a word, because the king’s order was, “Don’t answer him.”
The Letter to the Church in Smyrna
8 “To the messenger[a] of the church in Smyrna, write:
‘The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:
9 ‘I know your suffering and your poverty—though you are rich—and the slander committed by those who claim to be Jews but are not. They are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The Devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.
11 ‘Let everyone[b] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes[c] will never be hurt by the second death.’”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.