Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph. A song to be played on stringed instruments.
76 In the land of Judah, God is well known.
In Israel, his name is great.
2 His tent is in Jerusalem.
The place where he lives is on Mount Zion.
3 There he broke the deadly arrows of his enemies.
He broke their shields and swords.
He broke their weapons of war.
4 God, you shine like a very bright light.
You are more majestic than mountains full of wild animals.
5 Brave soldiers have been robbed of everything they had.
Now they lie there, sleeping in death.
Not one of them can even lift his hands.
6 God of Jacob, at your command
both horse and chariot lie still.
7 People should have respect for you alone.
Who can stand in front of you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you handed down your sentence.
The land was afraid and became quiet.
9 God, that happened when you rose up to judge.
It happened when you came to save all your suffering people in the land.
10 Your anger against sinners brings you praise.
Those who live through your anger gather to worship you.
11 Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them.
Let all the neighboring nations
bring gifts to the God who should be respected.
12 He breaks the proud spirit of rulers.
The kings of the earth have respect for him.
19 “Then I wanted to know what the fourth animal stood for. It was different from the others. It was the most terrifying of all. It had iron teeth and bronze claws. It crushed everyone it attacked and ate them up. It stomped on anything that was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head. And I wanted to know about the other horn that grew up later. It caused three of the ten horns to fall out. It appeared to be stronger than the others. It had eyes. And its mouth was always bragging. 21 I saw that the horn was at war with God’s holy people. It was winning the battle over them. 22 But then the Eternal God came. He decided in favor of his holy people. So the time came when the kingdom was given to them.
23 “Here’s how the angel explained it to me. He said, ‘The fourth animal stands for a fourth kingdom. It will appear on earth. It will be different from the other kingdoms. It will eat up the whole earth. It will stomp on it and crush it. 24 The ten horns stand for ten kings. They will come from the fourth kingdom. After them another king will appear. He will be different from the earlier ones. He’ll bring three kings under his control. 25 He’ll speak against the Most High God. He’ll treat God’s holy people badly. He will try to change the times and laws that were given by God. God’s holy people will be placed under his power for three and a half years.
26 “ ‘But the court will be seated. And the power of that king will be taken away from him. It will be completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the authority, power and greatness of all the kingdoms on earth will be taken from them. And all they had will be given to the holy people of the Most High God. His kingdom will last forever. Every ruler will worship and obey him.’
The Two Witnesses
11 I was given a long stick that looked like a measuring rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple of God. And measure the altar where the people are worshiping. 2 But do not measure the outer courtyard. That’s because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will take over the holy city for 42 months. 3 I will appoint my two witnesses. And they will prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in the rough clothes people wear when they’re sad.” 4 The witnesses are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands. And “they stand in front of the Lord of the earth.” (Zechariah 4:3,11,14) 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and eats up their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 These witnesses have power to close up the sky. Then it will not rain while they are prophesying. They also have power to turn the waters into blood. And they can strike the earth with every kind of plague. They can do this as often as they want to.
7 When they have finished speaking, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them. He will overpower them and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the main street of the great city. It is also the city where their Lord was nailed to a cross. The city is sometimes compared to Sodom or Egypt. 9 For three and a half days, people will stare at their bodies. These people will be from every tribe and nation, no matter what language they speak. They will refuse to bury them. 10 Those who live on the earth will be happy about this. That’s because those two prophets had made them suffer. The people will celebrate by sending one another gifts.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the witnesses. They both stood up. Terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven. It said to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched it happen.
13 At that same time there was a powerful earthquake. A tenth of the city crumbled and fell. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed. Those who lived through it were terrified. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second terrible judgment has passed. The third is coming soon.
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