Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

46 God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. ² And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. ³ Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!

⁴ There is a river of joy flowing through the city of our God—the sacred home of the God above all gods. ⁵ God himself is living in that city; therefore it stands unmoved despite the turmoil everywhere. He will not delay his help. ⁶ The nations rant and rave in anger—but when God speaks, the earth melts in submission and kingdoms totter into ruin.

⁷ The Commander of the armies of heaven is here among us. He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us.

⁸ Come, see the glorious things that our God does, how he brings ruin upon the world ⁹ and causes wars to end throughout the earth, breaking and burning every weapon. ¹⁰ “Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!”

¹¹ The Commander of the heavenly armies is here among us! He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us!

11 Open your doors, O Lebanon, to judgment.^[a] You will be destroyed as though by fire raging through your forests. ² Weep, O cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the tallest and most beautiful of them are fallen. Cry in fear, you oaks of Bashan, as you watch the thickest forests felled. ³ Listen to the wailing of Israel’s leaders—all these evil shepherds—for their wealth is gone. Hear the young lions roaring—the princes are weeping, for their glorious Jordan Valley lies in ruins.

⁴ Then said the Lord my God to me, “Go and take a job as shepherd of a flock being fattened for the butcher. ⁵ This will illustrate the way my people have been bought and slain by wicked leaders, who go unpunished. ‘Thank God, now I am rich!’ say those who have betrayed them—their own shepherds have sold them without mercy. ⁶ And I won’t spare them either,” says the Lord, “for I will let them fall into the clutches of their own wicked leaders, and they will slay them. They shall turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not protect it from them.”

⁷ So I took two shepherd’s staffs, naming one Grace and the other Union, and I fed the flock as I had been told to do. ⁸ And I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep—this nation—and they hated me too.

⁹ So I told them, “I won’t be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die; if you are killed, I don’t care. Go ahead and destroy yourselves!”

¹⁰ And I took my staff called Grace and snapped it in two, showing that I had broken my contract to lead and protect them. ¹¹ That was the end of the agreement. Then those who bought and sold sheep, who were watching, realized that God was telling them something through what I did.

¹² And I said to their leaders, “If you like, give me my pay, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.”

So they counted out thirty little silver coins^[b] as my wages.

¹³ And the Lord told me, “Use it to buy a field from the pottery makers^[c]—this magnificent sum they value you at!”

So I took the thirty coins and threw them into the Temple for the pottery makers. ¹⁴ Then I broke my other staff, “Union,” to show that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken.

¹⁵ Then the Lord told me to go again and get a job as a shepherd; this time I was to act the part of a worthless, wicked shepherd.

¹⁶ And he said to me, “This illustrates how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for the dying ones, nor look after the young, nor heal the broken bones, nor feed the healthy ones, nor carry the lame that cannot walk; instead, he will eat the fat ones, even tearing off their feet. ¹⁷ Woe to this worthless shepherd who doesn’t care for the flock. God’s sword will cut his arm and pierce through his right eye; his arm will become useless and his right eye blinded.”

³ All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. ⁴ And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. ⁵ And God, in his mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see. ⁶ So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.

⁷ These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.

⁸ You love him even though you have never seen him; though not seeing him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself. ⁹ And your further reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.