Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

David wrote this song.

Trust the Lord^[a]

Hezekiah becomes the king of Judah

18 Ahaz's son Hezekiah became the king of Judah when Elah's son Hoshea had been king of Israel for three years. ² Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah. ³ Hezekiah did things that the Lord said were good, as his ancestor King David had done. ⁴ He removed the altars on the hills. He knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped and he cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the Israelites had burned incense as an offering to it. It was called Nehushtan.^[a]

⁵ Hezekiah trusted the Lord, Israel's God. None of the other kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. ⁶ He served the Lord faithfully. He obeyed the laws that the Lord had given to Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with Hezekiah so that he was successful in everything that he decided to do. He turned against the king of Assyria. He refused to serve him. ⁸ He won battles against the Philistines as far as Gaza. He took all their towns, large and small.

²⁸ Then the Assyrian army leader stood there and he shouted in the Hebrew language, ‘Listen to this message from the king of Assyria, the great king! ²⁹ This is what the king says: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot save you from my power. ³⁰ Do not believe Hezekiah when he tells you that you can trust the Lord to help you. He says, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. He will not let the king of Assyria take this city for himself.’ ³¹ Do not believe what Hezekiah says.” This is what the king of Assyria says: “Show me that you accept my offer of peace and come out of your city. Then you will all live safely in your homes. You will eat the fruit from your own vines and fig trees. You will drink the water from your own wells. ³² Later, I will come to Jerusalem. I will take you away to a country that is like your own land here. There will be plenty of grain and new wine for you in that country. There will be bread and there will be vineyards. There will be olive trees and there will be honey. Choose life instead of death! Do not listen to Hezekiah. He is deceiving you when he says, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’ ³³ No god of any nation has ever saved his country from the king of Assyria's power. ³⁴ The gods of Hamath and Arpad could not help their people. The gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah could not help their people either. No god was able to rescue Samaria from my power. ³⁵ No god among all the gods of those countries could save their people from my power. So do not think that the Lord can save Jerusalem from my power.” ’

³⁶ When the people who were sitting on the wall heard this, they were quiet. They did not reply, because King Hezekiah had said, ‘Do not answer him.’

Jesus' message to the believers at Smyrna

⁸ ‘Write this to the angel of the church at Smyrna:

“This is the message to you from the one who is the first and the last. He was dead, but he became alive again.

⁹ I know that bad people are making you suffer. I also know that you are poor. But really, you are rich. Some people say that they are Jews, but they tell lies about you. So they cannot be my true people. Instead, they belong to a group of Satan's people. ¹⁰ I know that trouble will soon come to you. But do not be afraid. Listen! The Devil will cause some of you to go to prison. He wants to see whether you will continue to believe in me. As a result, you will suffer for ten days.^[a] But continue to trust me, even if you die. Then you will win against the Devil. I will give you a gift, as they give a crown to the winner of a race.^[b] You will have life with me for ever.

¹¹ God's Spirit is speaking to you in the churches. You should understand what the Spirit is saying to you. You have ears, so listen carefully! The second death will not hurt anyone who wins against Satan.” ’^[c]