Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 24
The King of Glory
A Davidic psalm.
1 The earth and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants,
belong to the Lord;(A)
2 for He laid its foundation on the seas
and established it on the rivers.(B)
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?(C)
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,(D)
who has not set his mind[a] on what is false,(E)
and who has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord,(F)
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.(G)
6 Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[b](H)
7 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Rise up, ancient doors!
Then the King of glory will come in.(I)
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.(J)
9 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Rise up, ancient doors!
Then the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is He, this King of glory?
The Lord of Hosts,
He is the King of glory.(K)
18 As I live—
this is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.(A)
He will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
19 Get your bags ready for exile,
inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!(B)
For Memphis will become a desolation,
uninhabited ruins.
20 Egypt is a beautiful young cow,(C)
but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.[a](D)
21 Even her mercenaries among her
are like stall-fed calves.
They too will turn back;
together they will flee;
they will not take their stand,
for the day of their calamity is coming on them,
the time of their punishment.(E)
22 Egypt will hiss like a slithering snake,[b]
for the enemy will come with an army;
with axes they will come against her
like those who cut trees.(F)
23 They will cut down her forest—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
though it is dense,
for they are more numerous than locusts;
they cannot be counted.(G)
24 Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
handed over to a northern people.(H)
25 The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes,(I) along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings—Pharaoh and those trusting in him. 26 I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives(J)—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this,(K) it will be inhabited again as in ancient times.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Reassurance for Israel
27 But you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid,(L)
and do not be discouraged, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away
and your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.
28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for I will be with you.(M)
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have banished you,
but I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you with justice,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.(N)
5 Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words[a] are faithful and true.”(A) 6 And He said to me, “It is done!(B) I am the Alpha and the Omega,(C) the Beginning and the End.(D) I will give water as a gift to the thirsty(E) from the spring of life.(F) 7 The victor(G) will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.(H) 8 But the cowards, unbelievers,[b] vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur,(I) which is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues,(J) came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 He then carried me away in the Spirit[c](K) to a great and high mountain(L) and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 arrayed with God’s glory.(M) Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal. 12 The city had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the 12 tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.(N) 14 The city wall had 12 foundations, and the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles were on the foundations.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod(O) to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.(P) 16 The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia.[d] Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. 18 The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass.
19 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone:(Q)
the first foundation jasper,
the second sapphire,
the third chalcedony,
the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth sardonyx,
the sixth carnelian,
the seventh chrysolite,
the eighth beryl,
the ninth topaz,
the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth,
the twelfth amethyst.
21 The 12 gates are 12 pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The broad street[e] of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.(R) 24 The nations[f] will walk in its light,(S) and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.[g](T) 25 Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.[h](U) 27 Nothing profane will ever enter it:(V) no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.(W)
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