Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Give Glory to the Lord
96 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord!
Bless his name!
Proclaim his deliverance every day!
3 Declare his glory among the nations
and his awesome deeds among all the peoples!
4 For the Lord is great,
and greatly to be praised;
he is awesome above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
might and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name,
bring an offering and enter his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Declare among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Indeed, he established the world so that it will not falter.
He will judge people fairly.
11 The heavens will be glad
and the earth will rejoice;
even the sea and everything that fills it will roar.[a]
12 The field and all that is in it will rejoice;
then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 in the Lord’s presence,
because he is coming;
indeed, he will come to judge the earth.
He will judge the world fairly
and its people reliably.
3 At the time,[a] when the Lord gives you rest from your suffering, turmoil, and the cruel bondage which they forced you to serve,[b] 4 you will lift up this song of mockery against[c] the king of Babylon:
“How the oppressor has come to an end!
How the attacker[d] has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers,
6 that struck down peoples in anger
with unceasing blows,
that oppressed nations in fury
with relentless persecution.
7 The entire earth is at rest and peace;
its inhabitants[e] break into song.
8 Even the cypresses rejoice over you,
as do[f] the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Now that you’ve been laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’[g]
9 “The afterlife[h] below is all astir
to meet you when you arrive;[i]
it rouses up the spirits of the dead to greet you—
everyone who used to be world leaders.
It has raised up from their thrones
all who used to be kings of the nations.
10 In answer, all of them[j] will tell you,
‘You’ve also become as weak as we are!
You have become just like us!’
11 Your[k] pomp has been brought down to Sheol,[l]
along with the noise of your harps.
Maggots are spread out beneath you,
and worms are your covering.”[m]
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch,[a] hearing about the fame of Jesus, 2 told his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these miracles are being done by him.” 3 Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[b] wife.
4 John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod[c] wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John[d] as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests.[e] She pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. 10 So he sent word[f] and had John beheaded in prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 When John’s[g] disciples came, they carried off the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
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