Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to the Victorious God
25 Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for you have done marvelous things,
plans made long ago in faithfulness and truth.
2 For you have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified city into a ruin;
the foreigners’ citadel[a] is no longer a city—
it will never be rebuilt!
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 For you have been a stronghold for the poor,
a stronghold for the needy in distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat—
for the blistering attack[b] from the ruthless
is like a rainstorm beating against a wall,
5 and the noise of foreigners is like the heat of the desert.
Just as you subdue heat by the shade of clouds,
so the victory songs of violent men will be stilled.
Celebration of the Righteous
6 “On this mountain,[c] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food,
a banquet of well-aged wines—
rich food full of marrow,
and refined wines of the finest[d] vintage
7 And on this mountain,[e] he will swallow up
the burial[f] shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations—
8 he has swallowed up[g] death forever!
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and he will take away the disgrace of his people
from the entire earth.”
for the Lord has spoken.
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
Closing Exhortations
4 Therefore, my dear brothers whom I long for, my joy and my victor’s crown, this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. 2 I urge Euodia and Syntyche to have the same attitude in the Lord. 3 Yes, I also ask you, my true partner,[a] to help these women. They have worked hard with me to advance[b] the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4 Keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times. I will say it again: Keep on rejoicing! 5 Let your gracious attitude[c] be known to all people. The Lord is near: 6 Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God’s peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah[d] Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—keep thinking about these things. 9 Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
The Parable about a Banquet(A)
22 Again Jesus spoke to them in parables. He said, 2 “The kingdom from[a] heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come. 4 So[b] he sent other servants after saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!”’ 5 But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest grabbed the king’s[c] servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them. 7 Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.’ 10 Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.
11 “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man[d] was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the darkness outside!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,[e] 14 because many are invited, but few are chosen.”
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