Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise the Lord!
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple!
Praise his strength in heaven!
2 Praise him for the mighty things he has done.
Praise his supreme greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpets.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with drums and dancing.
Praise him with harps and flutes.
5 Praise him with cymbals.
Praise him with loud cymbals.
6 Praise the Lord, all living creatures!
Praise the Lord!
The Lord's Promises to His People
30 The Lord, the God of Israel, 2 said to me, “Write down in a book everything that I have told you, 3 because the time is coming when I will restore my people, Israel and Judah. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
4 The Lord says to the people of Israel and Judah,
5 “I heard a cry of terror,
a cry of fear and not of peace.
6 Now stop and think!
Can a man give birth to a child?
Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach
like a woman in labor?
Why is everyone so pale?
7 A terrible day is coming;
no other day can compare with it—
a time of distress for my people,
but they will survive.”
8 The Lord Almighty says, “When that day comes, I will break the yoke that is around their neck and remove their chains, and they will no longer be the slaves of foreigners. 9 Instead, they will serve me, the Lord their God, and a descendant of David, whom I will enthrone as king.
10 (A)“My people, do not be afraid;
people of Israel, do not be terrified.
I will rescue you from that faraway land,
from the land where you are prisoners.
You will come back home and live in peace;
you will be secure, and no one will make you afraid.
11 I will come to you and save you.
I will destroy all the nations
where I have scattered you,
but I will not destroy you.
I will not let you go unpunished;
but when I punish you, I will be fair.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
10 Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children.
Love One Another
11 (A)The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another. 12 (B)We must not be like Cain; he belonged to the Evil One and murdered his own brother Abel. Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right.
13 So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you. 14 (C)We know that we have left death and come over into life; we know it because we love others. Those who do not love are still under the power of death. 15 Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them. 16 This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.