Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 16

A miktam^[a] by David.

⁴ I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living comfortably at home. I was prosperous while living in my palace. ⁵ I had a dream that terrified me. The visions I had while I was asleep frightened me. ⁶ So I ordered all the wise advisers in Babylon to be brought to me to tell me the dream’s meaning. ⁷ The magicians, psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers came to me. I told them the dream, but they couldn’t tell me its meaning. ⁸ Finally, Daniel came to me. (He had been renamed Belteshazzar after my god Bel.) The spirit of the holy gods is in him.

I told him the dream: ⁹ “Belteshazzar, head of the magicians, I know the spirit of the holy gods is in you. No secret is too hard for you to uncover. Tell me the meaning of the visions I had in my dream. ¹⁰ These are the visions I had while I was asleep: I was looking, and I saw an oak tree in the middle of the earth. It was very tall. ¹¹ The tree grew, and it became strong enough and tall enough to reach the sky. It could be seen everywhere on earth. ¹² It had beautiful leaves and plenty of fruit, enough to feed everyone. Wild animals found shade under it. Birds came to live in its branches. It fed every living creature.

¹³ “I was seeing these visions as I was asleep. I saw a guardian, a holy being, come down from heaven. ¹⁴ He shouted loudly, ‘Cut down the oak tree! Cut off its branches! Strip off its leaves! Scatter its fruit! Make the animals under it run away, and make the birds fly from its branches. ¹⁵ But leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Secure it with an iron and bronze chain in the grass in the field. Let it get wet with the dew from the sky. And let it get its share of the plants on the ground with the animals. ¹⁶ Let its human mind be changed, and give it the mind of an animal. Let it remain like this for seven time periods. ¹⁷ The guardians have announced this decision. The holy ones have announced this so that every living creature will know that the Illah-ah has power over human kingdoms. He gives them to whomever he wishes. He can place the lowest of people in charge of them.’”

¹⁸ I said, “This is the dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning because the wise advisers in my kingdom can’t tell it to me. However, you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

¹¹ But you, man of God, must avoid these things. Pursue what God approves of: a godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight for the Christian faith. Take hold of everlasting life to which you were called and about which you made a good testimony in front of many witnesses.

¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and in the sight of Christ Yeshua, who gave a good testimony in front of Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ I insist that, until our Lord Yeshua Christ appears, you obey this command completely. Then you cannot be blamed for doing anything wrong. ¹⁵ At the right time God will make this known. God is the blessed and only ruler. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶ He is the only one who cannot die. He lives in light that no one can come near. No one has seen him, nor can they see him. Honor and power belong to him forever! Amen.

¹⁷ Tell those who have the riches of this world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, they should place their confidence in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to be generous, and to share. ¹⁹ By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves which is a good foundation for the future. In this way they take hold of what life really is.

²⁰ Timothy, guard the Good News which has been entrusted to you. Turn away from pointless discussions and the claims of false knowledge that people use to oppose the Christian faith. ²¹ Although some claim to have knowledge, they have abandoned the faith.

God’s good will^[a] be with all of you.