Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Thanksgiving to God for His Works
For the music director. A song. A psalm.[a]
66 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.
2 Sing the glory of his name.
Set forth his glorious praise.[b]
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your works!
Because of the greatness of your strength,
your enemies will cringe before you.
4 All the earth will bow in worship to you,
and sing praise to you.
They will sing the praise of your name.” Selah
5 Come and consider[c] the works of God;
he is awesome in his dealings[d] with the children of humankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry ground;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him.
7 He rules by his might forever;
his eyes keep watch on the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.[e] Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
9 the one who has kept our soul among the living,
and has not allowed our foot to slip.
47 therefore[a] look, days are coming,
and I will punish the images of Babylon,
and all her land will be put to shame,
and all her slain ones will fall in the midst of her.
48 Then the heaven and the earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for from the north
the destroyers will come to it,” declares[b] Yahweh.
49 Babylon must fall not only because of the slain ones of Israel,
but also because of Babylon the slain ones of all the earth have fallen.
50 Survivors of the sword, go!
You must not linger!
Remember Yahweh from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.[c]
51 We are ashamed,
for we have heard taunts,[d]
disgrace covers our faces,
for strangers have come to the holy places of the house of Yahweh.
52 “Therefore[e] look, days are coming,” declares[f] Yahweh,
“and I will punish her images,
and the fatally wounded will sigh through all her land.
53 Though Babylon goes up to the heavens,
and though she fortifies the high place of her strength,
from me destroyers will come to her,” declares[g] Yahweh.
54 The sound of a cry for help from Babylon,
and a great collapse from the land of the Chaldeans.
55 For Yahweh is devastating Babylon,
and he obliterates her loud noise[h] from her.
Their waves roar like mighty waters,
the roar of their voices[i] resounds.
56 For a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
and her warriors are captured.
Their bows are broken;
for Yahweh is a God of recompense,
certainly he will repay.
57 “And I will make drunk her officials, and her wise men,
her governors, and her officials, and her warriors,
and they will sleep an everlasting sleep,[j]
and they will not wake up,”
declares[k] the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
Generosity in Giving
8 Now we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 that with a great ordeal of affliction, the abundance of their joy and the extreme depth of their poverty have overflowed to the wealth of their generosity. 3 I testify that they gave[a] according to their ability, and beyond their ability, by their own choice, 4 requesting of us with much exhortation the favor and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints, 5 and not just as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, by the will of God. 6 So we urged Titus that, just as he had previously begun it, thus he would also complete for you this act of grace. 7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and with all diligence and in the love from us that is in you—so may you excel in this grace also.
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