Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 37^[a]

Of David.

⁸ The field commander heard that the Assyrian king had left Lachish. So he went back to the king and found him attacking Libnah. ⁹ Then the Assyrian king learned that Cush’s King Tirhakah was on his way to fight against him. So he sent messengers to Hezekiah again, saying, ¹⁰ “Say this to Judah’s King Hezekiah: Don’t let the God you trust in persuade you by saying, ‘Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the Assyrian king.’ ¹¹ You yourself have heard what Assyrian kings do to other countries, wiping them out. Is it likely that you will be saved? ¹² Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the people of Eden in Telassar—save them? ¹³ Where now is Hamath’s king, Arpad’s king, or the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?”^[a]

Hezekiah’s prayer

¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers and read them. Then he went to the temple and spread them out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord God of Israel, you sit enthroned on the winged creatures. You alone are God over all the earth’s kingdoms. You made both heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Lord, turn your ear this way and hear! Lord, open your eyes and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words. He sent them to insult the living God! ¹⁷ It’s true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed many nations and their lands. ¹⁸ The Assyrians burned the gods of those nations with fire because they aren’t real gods. They are only man-made creations of wood and stone. That’s how the Assyrians could destroy them. ¹⁹ So now, Lord our God, please save us from Sennacherib’s power! Then all the earth’s kingdoms will know that you, Lord, are the only true God.”

²⁰ Then Isaiah, Amoz’s son, sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: I have heard your prayer about Assyria’s King Sennacherib.

³⁵ That night the Lord’s messenger went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere. ³⁶ So Assyria’s King Sennacherib departed, returning to Nineveh, where he stayed. ³⁷ Later, while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. They then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.

Message to Pergamum

¹² “Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: ¹³ I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. ¹⁶ So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. ¹⁷ If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira:

These are the words of God’s Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass. ¹⁹ I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution. ²² Look! I’m throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don’t change their hearts from following her practices— ²³ and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I’m the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve. ²⁴ As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don’t follow this teaching and haven’t learned the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. ²⁵ Just hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations— ²⁷ to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery— ²⁸ just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star. ²⁹ If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.