Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Deliverance

¹⁸ When that time comes, the Hebrew language will be spoken in five Egyptian cities. The people there will take their oaths in the name of the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will be called, “City of the Sun.”

¹⁹ When that time comes, there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt and a stone pillar dedicated to him at the Egyptian border. ²⁰ They will be symbols of the Lord Almighty's presence in Egypt. When the people there are oppressed and call out to the Lord for help, he will send someone to rescue them. ²¹ The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptian people, and then they will acknowledge and worship him, and bring him sacrifices and offerings. They will make solemn promises to him and do what they promise. ²² The Lord will punish the Egyptians, but then he will heal them. They will turn to him, and he will hear their prayers and heal them.

²³ When that time comes, there will be a highway between Egypt and Assyria. The people of these two countries will travel back and forth between them, and the two nations will worship together. ²⁴ When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world. ²⁵ The Lord Almighty will bless them and say, “I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people.”

² May grace and peace be yours in full measure through your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

God's Call and Choice

³ God's divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own^[a] glory and goodness. ⁴ In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature. ⁵ For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; ⁶ to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; ⁷ to your godliness add Christian affection; and to your Christian affection add love. ⁸ These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But if you do not have them, you are so shortsighted that you cannot see and have forgotten that you have been purified from your past sins.

¹⁰ So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.^{[b] 11} In this way you will be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹² And so I will always remind you of these matters, even though you already know them and are firmly grounded in the truth you have received. ¹³ I think it only right for me to stir up your memory of these matters as long as I am still alive. ¹⁴ I know that I shall soon put off this mortal body, as our Lord Jesus Christ plainly told me. ¹⁵ I will do my best, then, to provide a way for you to remember these matters at all times after my death.