Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To (A)Cyrus, whose (B)right hand I have [a]held—
(C)To subdue nations before him
And (D)loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2 ‘I will go before you
(E)And[b] make the [c]crooked places straight;
(F)I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
(G)That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who (H)call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
4 For (I)Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
5 I (J)am the Lord, and (K)there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
(L)I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 (M)That they may (N)know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and (O)create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment(A)
96 Oh, (B)sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the [a]nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
10 Say among the [a]nations, (A)“The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be [b]moved;
(B)He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 (C)Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
(D)Let the sea roar, and [c]all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
(E)He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the (B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace [a]from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their Good Example
2 (C)We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing (D)your work of faith, (E)labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 4 knowing, beloved brethren, (F)your election by God. 5 For (G)our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, (H)and in the Holy Spirit (I)and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And (J)you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, (K)with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord (L)has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also (M)in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us (N)what manner of entry we had to you, (O)and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and (P)to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us (Q)from the wrath to come.
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(A)
15 (B)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the (C)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not [a]regard the person of men. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Jesus [b]perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”
So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And He said to them, (D)“Render[c] therefore to Caesar the things that are (E)Caesar’s, and to God the things that are (F)God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.