Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

65 ^1-2 O God in Zion, we wait before you in silent praise, and thus fulfill our vow. And because you answer prayer, all mankind will come to you with their requests. ³ Though sins fill our hearts, you forgive them all. ⁴ How greatly to be envied are those you have chosen to come and live with you within the holy tabernacle courts! What joys await us among all the good things there. ⁵ With dread deeds and awesome power you will defend us from our enemies,^[a] O God who saves us. You are the only hope of all mankind throughout the world and far away upon the sea.

⁶ He formed the mountains by his mighty strength. ⁷ He quiets the raging oceans and all the world’s clamor. ⁸ In the farthest corners of the earth the glorious acts of God shall startle everyone. The dawn and sunset shout for joy!

⁹ He waters the earth to make it fertile. The rivers of God will not run dry! He prepares the earth for his people and sends them rich harvests of grain. ¹⁰ He waters the furrows with abundant rain. Showers soften the earth, melting the clods and causing seeds to sprout across the land. ^11-12 Then he crowns it all with green, lush pastures in the wilderness; hillsides blossom with joy. ¹³ The pastures are filled with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. All the world shouts with joy and sings.

48 ^1-2 Hear me, my people: you swear allegiance to the Lord without meaning a word of it when you boast of living in the Holy City and brag about depending on the God of Israel. ³ Time and again I told you what was going to happen in the future. My words were scarcely spoken when suddenly I did just what I said. ⁴ I knew how hard and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron; you are as hardheaded as brass. ⁵ That is why I told you ahead of time what I was going to do, so that you could never say, “My idol did it; my carved image commanded it to happen!”

^12-15 He will punish sin wherever it is found. He will punish the heathen when they sin, even though they never had God’s written laws, for down in their hearts they know right from wrong. God’s laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or sometimes excuses them. And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have his written laws but don’t obey them. They know what is right but don’t do it. After all, salvation is not given to those who know what to do, unless they do it. ¹⁶ The day will surely come when at God’s command Jesus Christ will judge the secret lives of everyone, their inmost thoughts and motives; this is all part of God’s great plan, which I proclaim.