Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Salvation and Judgment on That Day
25 Yahweh, You are my God;(A)
I will exalt You. I will praise Your name,
for You have accomplished wonders,
plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For You have turned the city into a pile of rocks,(B)
a fortified city, into ruins;
the fortress of barbarians(C) is no longer a city;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore, a strong people will honor You.
The cities of violent nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a stronghold for the poor,
a stronghold for the needy(D) person in his distress,
a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat.(E)
When the breath of the violent
is like rain against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry land,
You subdue the uproar of barbarians.
As[a] the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day,
so He silences the song of the violent.
6 The Lord of Hosts will prepare a feast(F)
for all the peoples on this mountain[b](G)—
a feast of aged wine, choice meat,[c] finely aged wine.
7 On this mountain
He will destroy the burial shroud,
the shroud over all the peoples,
the sheet covering all the nations;(H)
8 He will destroy death forever.(I)
The Lord God will wipe away the tears
from every face(J)
and remove His people’s disgrace(K)
from the whole earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 On that day it will be said,
“Look, this is our God;
we have waited for Him, and He has saved us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for Him.
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”(L)
Psalm 23
The Good Shepherd
A Davidic psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;(A)
there is nothing I lack.(B)
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;(C)
He leads me beside quiet waters.(D)
3 He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths[a]
for His name’s sake.(E)
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,[b]
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;(F)
Your rod and Your staff[c]—they comfort me.(G)
Practical Counsel
4 So then, my brothers, you are dearly loved and longed for—my joy and crown.(A) In this manner stand firm(B) in the Lord, dear friends. 2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I also ask you, true partner,[a] to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.(C) 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses(D) every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.(E)
8 Finally brothers, whatever is true,(F) whatever is honorable,(G) whatever is just,(H) whatever is pure,(I) whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence(J) and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received(K) and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: 2 “The kingdom of heaven(A) may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.(B) 3 He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet,(C) but they didn’t want to come. 4 Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’(D)
5 “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. 7 The king[a] was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.
8 “Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.(E) 9 Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’(F) 10 So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.[b] 11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.(G) 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend,(H) how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,[c] and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”(I)
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