Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
150 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy place.
Praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts.
Praise him for his immense greatness.
3 Praise him with sounds from horns.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals.
Praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Hallelujah!
Israel’s Glorious Future
30 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Write in a book everything that I tell you. 3 The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it.”
4 This is the message that the Lord spoke about Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the Lord says:
“We hear cries of fear, cries of panic, not cries of peace.
6 Ask now, and see: Can a man give birth to a child?
Why, then, do I see every strong man holding his stomach in pain
like a woman giving birth to a child?
Why has every face turned pale?
7 How terrible that day will be!
There will be no other day like it.
It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob,
but they will be rescued from it.
8 “On that day,” declares the Lord of Armies, “I will break the yokes [a] off your necks and tear off your ropes. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them. 9 You will serve the Lord your God and David your king. I will establish him for you.
10 “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares the Lord.
“Don’t be terrified, Israel.
I’m going to rescue you from a faraway place.
I’m going to rescue your descendants from where they are captives.
The descendants of Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will frighten them.
11 I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
“I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will correct you with justice.
I won’t let you go entirely unpunished.
10 This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.
Love One Another
11 The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. 12 Don’t be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God’s approval. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn’t grow in love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn’t have eternal life.
16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers.
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