Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (A)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the (B)city of our God, His (C)holy mountain.
2 (D)Beautiful in elevation, (E)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (F)city of the great King.
3 In its palaces,
God has made Himself known as a (G)stronghold.
4 For, behold, the (H)kings arrived,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (I)terrified, they fled in a hurry.
6 [a]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as that of (J)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (K)east wind
You (L)smash the (M)ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of armies, in the city of our God;
God will (N)establish her forever. Selah
9 We have thought over (O)Your goodness, God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (P)name, God,
So is Your (Q)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (R)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Mount (S)Zion shall be glad,
The (T)daughters of Judah shall rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk around Zion and encircle her;
Count her (U)towers;
13 Consider her (V)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
So that you may (W)tell of her to the next generation.
14 For [b]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (X)lead us [c]until death.
Promise of Restoration
14 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, [a]your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Keep far from the Lord; this land has been given (A)to us as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a (B)sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will (C)gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 When they come there, they will (D)remove all its (E)detestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 And I will (F)give them one heart, and put a new spirit within [b]them. And I will remove the (G)heart of stone from their flesh and give them a (H)heart of flesh, 20 so that they may (I)walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be (J)My people, and I shall be their God. 21 [c]But as for those whose hearts go after their (K)detestable things and abominations, I will [d](L)bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.
22 Then the cherubim (M)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and (N)the glory of the God of Israel [e]hovered over them. 23 The (O)glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and (P)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. 24 And the (Q)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to [f]Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen [g](R)left me. 25 And I (S)told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
12 Now we (A)have not received the spirit of (B)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, (C)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [a]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [b]a (D)natural person (E)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (F)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the one who is (G)spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is [c]discerned by no one. 16 For (H)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But (I)we have the mind of Christ.
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