Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Cyrus the Lord’s Anointed Shepherd
45
This is what the Lord says to his anointed one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
by stripping kings of their weapons,
to open doors before him
so that the gates cannot be shut.
2 I myself will go before you,
and I will level high mountains.[a]
I will break bronze doors into pieces,
and I will cut through iron bars.
3 I will give you treasures hidden in darkness
and riches concealed in secret places,
so that you will acknowledge that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
for the sake of Israel my chosen one,
I will call you by your name.
I will give you an honored name, though you do not know me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Except for me, there is no god.
I will equip you even though you do not know me,
6 so that people will know from the rising of the sun
to the place where it sets
that there is no one except me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I am the one who forms light and creates darkness,
the one who makes peace and creates disaster.
I am the Lord, the one who does all these things.
Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Call to Worship
1 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord. Praise his name.
Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3 Tell about his glory among the nations,
about his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Praise Him Alone
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of great praise.
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are “nothings,”[a]
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him.
Power and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, families of peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and power.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.
Bring a gift and come into his courtyards.
9 Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.[b]
Look away from his face,[c] all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
The world is firmly established.
It will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.
Let Nature Praise Him
11 Let the heavens rejoice.
Let the earth celebrate.
Let the sea roar,
and all that fills it.
12 Let the fields be overjoyed,
and everything that is in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Greeting
1 Paul, Silas,[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[b]
Thanksgiving for the Faith of the Thessalonians
2 We always give thanks to God for all of you as we make mention of you in our prayers, 3 because we constantly remember before God our Father your work produced by faith, your labor produced by love, and your patient endurance produced by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 Dear brothers,[c] loved by God, we know that God has chosen you, 5 because our gospel did not come to you with mere words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. You yourselves know very well what kind of people we proved to be for your sake, while we were with you. 6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you welcomed the word during a time of great affliction with the joy from the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.[d] 8 Indeed, the word of the Lord has resounded from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith in God has become known. As a result, we do not need to say anything, 9 because they themselves inform us about what kind of reception we received from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. 10 They also report how you patiently wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, the one who is going to rescue us from the coming wrath.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted together how to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in accord with the truth. You are not concerned about gaining anyone’s approval because you are not swayed by appearances. 17 So tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew their evil purpose and said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.”
They brought him a denarius.
20 He asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied to him.
Then he said to them, “Therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.