Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
18 (A)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is (B)the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be (C)as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “I(D) hate, I despise your feast days,
And (E)I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 (F)Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 (G)But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Prayer for Relief from Adversaries(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. (B)To bring to remembrance.
70 Make haste, (C)O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 (D)Let them be ashamed and confounded
Who seek my life;
Let them be [a]turned back and confused
Who desire my hurt.
3 (E)Let them be turned back because of their shame,
Who say, [b]“Aha, aha!”
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
The Comfort of Christ’s Coming
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen [a]asleep, lest you sorrow (A)as others (B)who have no hope. 14 For (C)if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him (D)those who [b]sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you (E)by the word of the Lord, that (F)we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [c]asleep. 16 For (G)the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with (H)the trumpet of God. (I)And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 (J)Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (K)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus (L)we shall always be with the Lord. 18 (M)Therefore comfort one another with these words.
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet (A)the bridegroom. 2 (B)Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, (C)they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight (D)a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom [a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and (E)trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and (F)the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, (G)‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (H)I do not know you.’
13 (I)“Watch therefore, for you (J)know neither the day nor the hour [b]in which the Son of Man is coming.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.