Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations

⁶ “Up, up! Flee ^(A)from the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have ^(B)spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. ⁷ “Up, Zion! ^(C)Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who ^(D)touches you touches the ^[a]apple of His eye. ⁹ For surely I will ^(E)shake My hand against them, and they shall become ^[b]spoil for their servants. Then ^(F)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.

^10 (G)“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I ^(H)will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. ^11 (I)“Many nations shall be joined to the Lord ^(J)in that day, and they shall become ^(K)My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then ^(L)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. ¹² And the Lord will ^(M)take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. ^13 (N)Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused ^(O)from His holy habitation!”

Sin’s Advantage in the Law

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, ^(A)I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ^(B)“You shall not covet.” ⁸ But ^(C)sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For ^(D)apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, ^(E)which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore ^(F)the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Law Cannot Save from Sin

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, ^(G)sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. ^(H)For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that ^(I)in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.