Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Answer Me When I Call

To the ^(A)choirmaster: with ^(B)stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

Daniel's Prayer for His People

9 ^(A)In the first year of ^(B)Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a ^(C)Mede, who was made king over the realm of the ^(D)Chaldeans— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to ^(E)the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

³ Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by ^(F)prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and ^(G)made confession, saying, ^(H)“O Lord, the ^(I)great and awesome God, who ^(J)keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ^5 (K)we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly ^(L)and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. ^6 (M)We have not listened to ^(N)your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to ^(O)our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ To you, ^(P)O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, ^(Q)those who are near and ^(R)those who are far away, in ^(S)all the lands to which you have driven them, because of ^(T)the treachery that they have committed against you. ⁸ To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because ^(U)we have sinned against you. ^9 (V)To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him ^10 (W)and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by ^(X)his servants the prophets. ^11 (Y)All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, ^(Z)refusing to obey your voice. ^(AA)And the curse and oath ^(AB)that are written in the Law of ^(AC)Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because ^(AD)we have sinned against him. ¹² He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against ^(AE)our rulers who ruled us,^[a] by ^(AF)bringing upon us a great calamity. ^(AG)For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. ^13 (AH)As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favour of the Lord our God, ^(AI)turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. ^14 (AJ)Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, ^(AK)for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and ^(AL)we have not obeyed his voice. ¹⁵ And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt ^(AM)with a mighty hand, and ^(AN)have made a name for yourself, as at this day, ^(AO)we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

¹⁶ “O Lord, ^(AP)according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, ^(AQ)your holy hill, ^(AR)because for our sins, and for ^(AS)the iniquities of our fathers, ^(AT)Jerusalem and your people have become ^(AU)a byword among all who are around us. ¹⁷ Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord,^{[b] (AV)}make your face to shine upon ^(AW)your sanctuary, which is desolate. ^18 (AX)O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ^(AY)our desolations, and ^(AZ)the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ^(BA)Delay not, ^(BB)for your own sake, O my God, because ^(BC)your city and ^(BD)your people are called by your name.”

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸ Children, ^(A)it is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^(B)antichrist is coming, so now ^(C)many antichrists have come. ^(D)Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (E)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(F)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^(G)that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been ^(H)anointed by ^(I)the Holy One, and ^(J)you all have knowledge.^{[a] 21} I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(K)he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^(L)the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (M)No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let ^(N)what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ^(O)you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us^[b]—^(P)eternal life.