Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

^[a] Of David.

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(A)Libnah, for he heard that the king had left ^(B)Lachish. ^9 (C)Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God ^(D)in whom you trust deceive you by promising that ^(E)Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? ^12 (F)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, ^(G)Gozan, ^(H)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of ^(I)Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (J)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah's Prayer

¹⁴ Hezekiah received ^(K)the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(L)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(M)you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ^16 (N)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(O)open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(P)to mock the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, ^(Q)but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. ¹⁹ So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, ^(R)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that ^(S)you, O Lord, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria ^(T)I have heard.

³⁵ And that night ^(A)the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. ³⁶ Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at ^(B)Nineveh. ³⁷ And as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, ^(C)Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

To the Church in Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^(A)the sharp two-edged sword.

¹³ “‘I know where you dwell, ^(B)where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^(C)deny my faith^[a] even in the days of Antipas ^(D)my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ^(E)Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^(F)eat food sacrificed to idols and ^(G)practise sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^(H)the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent. If not, ^(I)I will come to you soon and ^(J)war against them with ^(K)the sword of my mouth. ^17 (L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(M)To the one who conquers I will give some of ^(N)the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^(O)a new name written on the stone ^(P)that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^(Q)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

^19 (R)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰ But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^(S)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants^{[b] (T)}to practise sexual immorality and ^(U)to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but ^(V)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³ and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^(W)who searches mind and heart, and ^(X)I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴ But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^(Y)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^(Z)do not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵ Only hold fast ^(AA)what you have until I come. ^26 (AB)The one who conquers and who keeps my works ^(AC)until the end, ^(AD)to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷ and ^(AE)he will ^(AF)rule them with a rod of iron, ^(AG)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ And I will give him ^(AH)the morning star. ^29 (AI)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’