Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Ascents
God is Secure
125 Those who are trusting in the Lord
are like Mount Zion, which cannot be overthrown.
They remain forever.
2 Just as mountains encircle Jerusalem,
so the Lord encircles his people,
from now to eternity.
3 For evil’s scepter will not rest
on the land that has been allotted to the righteous,
and so the righteous will not direct themselves[a] to do wrong.
4 Lord, do good to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in heart.[b]
5 But for those who choose their own devious paths,
the Lord will lead them away,
along with those who practice evil.
Peace be upon Israel.
The Repentance of the Righteous
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other. The Lord listened and took note,[a] and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the Lord and honor His name. 17 “They’ll be mine,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “in the day when I prepare my treasured possession. I’ll spare them, just as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18 When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not.”
The Great Day of the Lord
4 [b]“The coming day[c] is certainly going to burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and all who practice evil will be stubble—the coming day will set them on fire,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its light[d] for those who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves released[e] from their stalls 3 and trample down the wicked. Indeed, they will become ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
The Coming of Elijah the Prophet
4 “Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel—both the decrees and laws.
5 “Pay attention! I’m sending Elijah the prophet to you before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes, 6 and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I’ll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it.”
9 On their way down the mountain, Jesus[a] ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves but argued about what “rising from the dead” meant. 11 So they asked him, “Don’t the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 He told them, “Elijah is indeed coming first and will restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be treated shamefully? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, yet people[b] treated him just as they pleased, as it is written about him.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.