Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 24[a]
A psalm of David.
24 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established[b] it upon the ocean currents.[c]
3 Who is allowed to ascend[d] the mountain of the Lord?[e]
Who may go up to his holy dwelling place?
4 The one whose deeds are blameless
and whose motives are pure,[f]
who does not lie,[g]
or make promises with no intention of keeping them.[h]
5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord,[i]
and vindicated by the God who delivers them.[j]
6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,
Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him.[k] (Selah)
7 Look up,[l] you gates.
Rise up,[m] you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king[n] will enter.[o]
8 Who is this majestic king?[p]
The Lord who is strong and mighty.
The Lord who is mighty in battle.
9 Look up, you gates.
Rise up, you eternal doors.
Then the majestic king will enter.
10 Who is this majestic king?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[q]
He is the majestic king. (Selah)
18 I the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[a] swear this:
‘I swear as surely as I live that[b] a conqueror is coming.
He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains,
as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea.[c]
19 Pack your bags for exile,
you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt.[d]
For Memphis will be laid waste.
It will lie in ruins[e] and be uninhabited.
20 Egypt is like a beautiful young cow.
But northern armies will attack her like swarms of stinging flies.[f]
21 Even her mercenaries[g]
will prove to be like pampered,[h] well-fed calves.
For they too will turn and run away.
They will not stand their ground
when[i] the time for them to be destroyed comes,
the time for them to be punished.
22 Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake,[j]
as the enemy comes marching up in force.
They will come against her with axes
as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.
23 The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.
But I, the Lord, affirm[k] that the enemy will cut them down.
For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.
They will be too numerous to count.[l]
24 Poor dear Egypt[m] will be put to shame.
She will be handed over to the people from the north.’”
25 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[n] says, “I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes.[o] I will punish Egypt, its gods, and its kings. I will punish Pharaoh and all who trust in him.[p] 26 I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the Lord, affirm it!”[q]
A Promise of Hope for Israel
27 [r] “You descendants of Jacob, my servants,[s] do not be afraid;
do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from the faraway lands where you are captives.[t]
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure and no one will terrify them.
28 I, the Lord, tell[u] you not to be afraid,
you descendants of Jacob, my servant,
for I am with you.
Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”[v]
5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then[a] he said to me, “Write it down,[b] because these words are reliable[c] and true.” 6 He also said to me, “It is done![d] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water[e] free of charge[f] from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers[g] will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells,[h] idol worshipers,[i] and all those who lie, their place[j] will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.[k] That[l] is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem Descends
9 Then[m] one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me,[n] saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!” 10 So[o] he took me away in the Spirit[p] to a huge, majestic mountain[q] and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 The city possesses[r] the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.[s] 12 It has[t] a massive, high wall[u] with twelve gates,[v] with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel[w] are written on the gates.[x] 13 There are[y] three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side.[z] 14 The[aa] wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel[ab] who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall. 16 Now[ac] the city is laid out as a square,[ad] its length and width the same. He[ae] measured the city with the measuring rod[af] at 1,400 miles[ag] (its length and width and height are equal). 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits[ah] according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s.[ai] 18 The city’s[aj] wall is made[ak] of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.[al] 19 The foundations of the city’s wall are decorated[am] with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate,[an] the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx,[ao] the sixth carnelian,[ap] the seventh chrysolite,[aq] the eighth beryl,[ar] the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,[as] the eleventh jacinth,[at] and the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls—each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The[au] main street[av] of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 Now[aw] I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God—the All-Powerful[ax]—and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations[ay] will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur[az] into it. 25 Its gates will never be closed during the day[ba] (and[bb] there will be no night there).[bc] 26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth[bd] of the nations[be] into it, 27 but[bf] nothing ritually unclean[bg] will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable[bh] or practices falsehood,[bi] but only those whose names[bj] are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
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