Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 95

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

² Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

⁴ In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.

⁵ The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].

⁷ For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice,^(A)

¹³ The messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, Behold now, the prophets unanimously declare good to the king. Let your answer, I pray you, be like theirs, and say what is good.

¹⁴ But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, I will speak what the Lord says to me.

¹⁵ So he came to the king. King [Ahab] said, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we hold back? And he answered, Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.

¹⁶ And the king said to him, How many times must I charge you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?

¹⁷ And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace.

¹⁸ Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

¹⁹ And Micaiah said, Hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.

²⁰ And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One said this way, another said that way.

²¹ Then there came forth a spirit [of whom I am about to tell] and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him.

²² The Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. [The Lord] said, You shall entice him and succeed also. Go forth and do it.

²³ So the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets; and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you.

14 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 [men] who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads.

² And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of great waters and like the rumbling of mighty thunder; the voice I heard [seemed like the music] of harpists ^[a]accompanying themselves on their harps.

³ And they sang a new song before the throne [of God] and before the four living creatures and before the elders [of ^[b]the heavenly Sanhedrin]. No one could learn [to sing] that song except the 144,000 who had been ransomed (purchased, redeemed) from the earth.

⁴ These are they who have not defiled themselves by relations with women, for they are [^[c]pure as] virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These are they who have been ransomed (purchased, redeemed) from among men as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

⁵ No lie was found to be upon their lips, for they are blameless (spotless, untainted, without blemish) before the throne of God.

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal Gospel (good news) to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every race and tribe and language and people.

⁷ And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.

⁸ Then another angel, a second, followed, declaring, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She who made all nations drink of the [maddening] wine of her passionate unchastity [^[d]idolatry].^(A)

⁹ Then another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a mighty voice, Whoever pays homage to the beast and his statue and permits the [beast’s] stamp (mark, inscription) to be put on his forehead or on his hand,

¹⁰ He too shall [have to] drink of the wine of God’s indignation and wrath, poured undiluted into the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.^(B)

¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no respite (no pause, no intermission, no rest, no peace) day or night—these who pay homage to the beast and to his image and whoever receives the stamp of his name upon him.^(C)