Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for God’s Mighty Deeds and for His Answer to Prayer.
For the music director. A Song. A Psalm.
66 (A)Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the (B)glory of His name;
Make His (C)praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How (D)awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will (E)pretend to obey You.
4 (F)All the earth will worship You,
And will (G)sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 (H)Come and see the works of God,
Who is (I)awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He (J)turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through (K)the river on foot;
Let’s (L)rejoice there, in Him!
7 He (M)rules by His might forever;
His (N)eyes keep watch on the nations;
The rebellious shall not (O)exalt themselves! Selah
47 Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the (A)idols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be (B)put to shame.
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
48 Then (C)heaven and earth and everything that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
Because (D)the destroyers will come to her from the north,”
Declares the Lord.
49 (E)Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As (F)the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
50 You (G)who have escaped the sword,
Go! Do not stay!
(H)Remember the Lord from far away,
And let Jerusalem [a]come to your mind.
51 (I)We are ashamed because we have heard rebuke;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
Because (J)strangers have entered
The holy places of the Lord’s house.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will punish her (K)idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53 Though Babylon (L)ascends to the heavens,
And though she fortifies [b]her lofty stronghold,
Destroyers will come from (M)Me to her,” declares the Lord.
54 The (N)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [c]noise vanish from her.
And their (O)waves will roar like many waters;
The clamor of their voices [d]sounds forth.
56 For the (P)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her warriors will be captured,
Their (Q)bows shattered;
For the Lord is a God of (R)retribution,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (S)make her leaders and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her officials, and her warriors,
So that they will sleep a (T)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(U)Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of armies.
58 This is what the Lord of armies says:
Great Generosity
8 Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been (A)given in the churches of (B)Macedonia, 2 that in a [a]great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the (C)wealth of their liberality. 3 For I testify that (D)according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily, 4 begging us with much urging for the (E)favor [b]of participation in the [c](F)support of the [d]saints, 5 and this, not as we had [e]expected, but they first (G)gave themselves to the Lord and to us by (H)the will of God. 6 So we (I)urged (J)Titus that as he had previously (K)made a beginning, so he would also complete in you (L)this gracious work as well.
7 But just as you (M)excel (N)in everything, in faith, speaking, knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the [f]love we inspired in you, see that you also (O)excel in this gracious work.
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