Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 How very kind the Lord is!
He is very patient and his faithful love continues.
9 It is the Lord who takes care of everybody.
He is kind to everything that he has made.
10 Join together to thank the Lord!
Everything that he has made will praise him.
Your own people will praise you, Lord!
11 King is who you are and your kingdom is great!
People will speak about your royal authority.
12 Let everyone agree that you do great things!
Let them say that you rule with great authority.
13 Many years your kingdom will remain, even for ever.
You will always rule your people and their descendants.
Nothing that the Lord promises is false.
He is kind in everything that he does.[a]
14 Often people fall, but the Lord lifts them up.
He helps everyone who has trouble.
The burning lights and the olive trees
4 The angel that talked with me before woke me. I, Zechariah, was like a man who wakes out of his sleep. 2 The angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I said, ‘I see a lampstand that is made from gold. It has seven lamps and a bowl on top which contains oil. And it has seven branches that take the oil to each lamp. 3 And two olive trees are standing by the lampstand. One tree is on the right and one tree is on the left.’
4 I, Zechariah, said to the angel that talked with me, ‘What does this light mean, my lord?’
5 He said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’
I said, ‘No, my lord.’
6 Then the angel said to me, ‘The Lord said this to Zerubbabel: “You will need my Spirit. You yourself are too weak.[a] And you do not have enough power.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: 7 “Big mountain, you are no problem. You will become flat ground in front of Zerubbabel. Then he will bring out the last and biggest stone of my house. The people will shout, ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ” ’
Jesus is very happy
21 At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. He said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People that do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’
22 Jesus then said, ‘My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father knows who I am, his Son. Only I know who the Father is, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.’
23 Then Jesus turned and he spoke only to his disciples. He said to them, ‘Be happy because of the things that you are now able to see and understand. 24 I tell you this: Many prophets and kings from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you are seeing. They wanted to hear the message that you are hearing. But they did not hear it.’
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