Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of Thine anointed.
10 For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee!
5 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote opposite the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king’s countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
8 Then came in all the king’s wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9 Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were dismayed.
10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house. And the queen spoke and said, “O king, live for ever! Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.
11 There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him whom King Nebuchadnezzar thy father — the king, I say, thy father — made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.
12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and interpreting of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation.”
5 The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of them, not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but out of a ready mind,
3 neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but by being examples to the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world.
10 But after ye have suffered a while, may the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.