Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Will Swallow Up Death For Ever
25 O Lord, (A)you are my God;
(B)I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
(C)plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city (D)a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 (E)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 (F)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
(G)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
(H)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 (I)like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 (J)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
(K)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up (L)on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
(M)the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 (N)He will swallow up death for ever;
and (O)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and (P)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
(Q)for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; (R)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
(S)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd; I shall not (B)want.
2 He makes me lie down in green (C)pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3 He (D)restores my soul.
He (E)leads me in (F)paths of righteousness[b]
for his (G)name's sake.
4 Even though I (H)walk through the valley of (I)the shadow of death,[c]
I will (J)fear no evil,
for (K)you are with me;
your (L)rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You (M)prepare a table before me
in (N)the presence of my enemies;
you (O)anoint my head with oil;
my (P)cup overflows.
6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall (Q)dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
(R)for ever.[g]
4 Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and (A)long for, (B)my joy and (C)crown, (D)stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to (E)agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have laboured side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, (F)whose names are in the book of life.
4 (G)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. (H)The Lord is at hand; 6 (I)do not be anxious about anything, (J)but in everything by prayer and supplication (K)with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And (L)the peace of God, (M)which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and (N)received and heard and seen (O)in me—practise these things, and (P)the God of peace will be with you.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
22 And again Jesus (A)spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 (B)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave (C)a wedding feast for his son, 3 and (D)sent his servants[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 (E)Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my (F)dinner, (G)my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ 5 But (H)they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, (I)treated them shamefully, and (J)killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and (K)destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not (L)worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and (M)gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there (N)a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, (O)‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and (P)cast him into the outer darkness. In that place (Q)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are (R)called, but few are (S)chosen.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.