Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God, the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken
And summoned the earth, (B)from [b]the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone.
3 May our God (E)come and not keep silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently (G)raging around Him.
4 He (H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My (I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. Selah
7 “(N)Hear, My people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 I do (P)not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I will not take a (Q)bull from your house,
Nor male goats from your folds.
10 For (R)every animal of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, and [e]everything it contains.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of [f](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me on the day of trouble;
I will (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to tell of My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you yourself (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)throw My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you (AD)become friends with him,
And [g]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 You [h](AF)let your mouth loose in evil,
And your (AG)tongue harnesses deceit.
20 You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and (AI)I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.
7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is (A)Chislev. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and [a]their men to [b](B)seek the favor of the Lord, 3 speaking to the (C)priests who belong to the house of the Lord of armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the (D)fifth month [c]and fast, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months [d]these (E)seventy years, was it actually for (F)Me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, [e]do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words which the Lord (G)proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and (H)carefree along with its cities around it, and the [f](I)Negev and the [g]foothills were inhabited?’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “This is what the Lord of armies has said: ‘(J)Dispense true justice and practice (K)kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and (L)do not oppress the widow or the [h]orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do (M)not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 But they (N)refused to pay attention, and [i](O)turned a stubborn shoulder and [j](P)plugged their ears from hearing. 12 They also made their (Q)hearts as hard as (R)a diamond [k]so that they could not hear the Law and the (S)words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the (T)former prophets; therefore great (U)wrath came from the Lord of armies. 13 And just as (V)He called and they would not listen, so (W)they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies; 14 “but I [l](X)scattered them with a (Y)storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was (Z)desolated behind them [m]so that (AA)no one went back and forth, since they (AB)made the pleasant land desolate.”
5 Now I want to (A)remind you, though (B)you know everything once and for all, that [a]the Lord, (C)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, [b]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (D)angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has (E)kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as (F)Sodom and Gomorrah and the (G)cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and (H)went after [c]strange flesh, are exhibited as an [d](I)example in undergoing the (J)punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, (K)defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic [e]majesties. 9 But (L)Michael (M)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about (N)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “(O)The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But (P)these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and (Q)all the things that they know by instinct, (R)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone (S)the way of Cain, and for pay [f]they have given themselves up to (T)the error of Balaam, and (U)perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the ones who are [g]hidden reefs (V)in your love feasts when they feast with you (W)without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; (X)clouds without water, (Y)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, [h]doubly dead, (Z)uprooted; 13 (AA)wild waves of the sea, churning up (AB)their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, (AC)for whom the [i]gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these people that (AD)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “(AE)Behold, the Lord has come with [j]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 (AF)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which (AG)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are (AH)grumblers, finding fault, (AI)following after their own lusts; [k]they speak (AJ)arrogantly, flattering people (AK)for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
17 But you, (AL)beloved, (AM)ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by (AN)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “(AO)In the last time there will be mockers, (AP)following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, [l](AQ)worldly-minded, [m]devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, (AR)beloved, (AS)building yourselves up on your most holy (AT)faith, (AU)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, (AV)looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
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