Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 24

A Psalm of David.

¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it.^(A)

² For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the currents and the rivers.

³ Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.^(B)

⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶ This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob. Selah [pause, and think of that]!^(C)

⁷ Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up, you age-abiding doors, that the King of glory may come in.

⁸ Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates; yes, lift them up, you age-abiding doors, that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰ Who is [He then] this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

¹⁷ Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; [your eyes] will behold a land of wide distances that stretches afar.

¹⁸ Your mind will meditate on the terror: [asking] Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?

¹⁹ You will see no more the fierce and insolent people, a people of a speech too deep and obscure to be comprehended, of a strange and stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our set feasts and solemnities! Your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be taken down; not one of its stakes shall ever be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken.

²¹ But there the Lord will be for us in majesty and splendor a place of broad rivers and streams, where no oar-propelled boat can go, and no mighty and stately ship can pass.

²² For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.^(A)

⁸ And I, John, am he who heard and witnessed these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell prostrate before the feet of the messenger (angel) who showed them to me, to worship him.

⁹ But he said to me, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] a fellow servant along with yourself and with your brethren the prophets and with those who are mindful of and practice [the truths contained in] the messages of this book. Worship God!

¹⁰ And he [further] told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book and make no secret of them, for the time ^[a]when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near.

¹¹ He who is unrighteous (unjust, wicked), let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy (vile, impure), let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous (just, upright, in right standing with God), let him do right still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still.^(A)

¹² Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit.^(B)

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (the Before all and the End of all).^(C)

¹⁴ Blessed (happy and ^[b]to be envied) are those who cleanse their garments, that they may have the authority and right to [approach] the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city.^(D)

¹⁵ [But] without are the dogs and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).

¹⁶ I, Jesus, have sent My messenger (angel) to you to witness and to give you assurance of these things for the churches (assemblies). I am the Root (the Source) and the Offspring of David, the radiant and brilliant Morning Star.^(E)

¹⁷ The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need ^[c]of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.^(F)

¹⁸ I [personally solemnly] warn everyone who listens to the statements of the prophecy [the ^[d]predictions and the consolations and admonitions pertaining to them] in this book: If anyone shall add anything to them, God will add and lay upon him the plagues (the afflictions and the calamities) that are recorded and described in this book.

¹⁹ And if anyone cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy [these ^[e]predictions relating to Christ’s kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions or warnings pertaining to them], God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (purity and hallowedness), which are described and promised in this book.

²⁰ He Who gives this warning and affirms and testifies to these things says, Yes (it is true). [Surely] I am coming quickly (swiftly, speedily). Amen (so let it be)! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace (blessing and favor) of the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) be ^[f]with all the saints (God’s holy people, ^[g]those set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively His). Amen (so let it be)!