Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Divine Scrutiny and Redemption
A Psalm of David.
26 Vindicate (A)me, O Lord,
For I have (B)walked in my integrity.
(C)I have also trusted in the Lord;
I shall not slip.
2 (D)Examine me, O Lord, and [a]prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And (E)I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not (F)sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have (G)hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence;
So I will go about Your altar, O Lord,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 Lord, (H)I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place [b]where Your glory dwells.
9 (I)Do[c] not gather my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme,
And whose right hand is full of (J)bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 (K)My foot stands in an even place;
In the congregations I will bless the Lord.
The Coming Judgment on Edom
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God (A)concerning Edom
(B)(We have heard a report from the Lord,
And a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):
2 “Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You shall be greatly despised.
3 The (C)pride of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Whose habitation is high;
(D)You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
4 (E)Though you ascend as high as the eagle,
And though you (F)set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.
5 “If (G)thieves had come to you,
If robbers by night—
Oh, how you will be cut off!—
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers had come to you,
(H)Would they not have left some gleanings?
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, (A)a great multitude which no one could number, (B)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, (C)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, (D)“Salvation belongs to our God (E)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 (F)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and (G)worshiped God, 12 (H)saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in (I)white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, [a]“Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, (J)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and (K)washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will (L)dwell among them. 16 (M)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; (N)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne (O)will shepherd them and lead them to [b]living fountains of waters. (P)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.