Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Protection

A prayer of David.

The Vision of the High Priest

3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest. He was standing in front of the Lord’s angel. And Satan was standing by Joshua’s right side to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord says you are guilty, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem says you are guilty. This man was like a burning stick pulled from the fire.”

³ Joshua was standing in front of the angel. And Joshua was wearing dirty clothes. ⁴ Then the angel spoke to those standing near him. He said, “Take those dirty clothes off Joshua.”

Then the angel said to Joshua, “Look, I have taken away your sin. And I am giving you new clothes.”

⁵ Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head. They also dressed him while the Lord’s angel stood there.

⁶ Then the Lord’s angel said to Joshua, “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ⁷ ‘Do as I tell you and serve me. Then you will be in charge of my Temple. You will take care of my courtyards. And I will let you be with these angels who are standing here.

⁸ “‘Listen, high priest Joshua and the people with you. You stand for things that will happen. I am going to bring my servant called the Branch. ⁹ Look, I put this stone in front of Joshua. The stone has seven sides. I will carve a message on it,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ‘And in one day I will take away the sin of this land.’

¹⁰ “The Lord of heaven’s armies says, ‘In that day, each of you will invite your neighbor to join you. And you will sit together under your own grapevine and under your own fig tree.’”

⁴ When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. God sent them to hell and put them in caves^[a] of darkness. They are being held there to be judged. ⁵ And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who preached about being right with God. ⁶ And God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.^[b] He burned those cities until there was nothing left but ashes. He made those cities an example to show what will happen to those who are against God. ⁷ But God saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a good man, was troubled because of the sinful behavior of evil people. ⁸ (Lot was a good man, but he lived with evil people every day. His good heart was hurt by the evil things that he saw and heard.) ⁹ And so the Lord knows how to save those who serve him. He will save them when troubles come. And the Lord will hold evil people and punish them, while waiting for the Judgment Day. ¹⁰ That punishment is especially for those who live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want, and for those who hate the Lord’s authority.

These false teachers do anything they want and brag about it. They are not afraid to say bad things about the glorious angels. ¹¹ The angels are much stronger and more powerful than false teachers. But even the angels do not accuse them with insults before^[c] the Lord. ¹² But these men say bad things about what they do not understand. They are like animals that act without thinking. These animals are born to be caught and killed. And, like wild animals, these false teachers will be destroyed. ¹³ They have caused many people to suffer; so they themselves will suffer. That is their pay for what they have done. They take pleasure in doing evil things openly. So they are like dirty spots and stains among you. They bring shame to you in the meals that you eat together. ¹⁴ Every time they look at a woman they want her. Their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into the trap of sin. They have taught their hearts to be selfish. God will punish them. ¹⁵ These false teachers left the right road and lost their way. They followed the way that Balaam went. Balaam was the son of Beor, who loved being paid for doing wrong. ¹⁶ But a donkey told Balaam that he was sinning. And the donkey is an animal that cannot talk. But the donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the prophet’s crazy thinking.

¹⁷ Those false teachers are like rivers that have no water. They are like clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. ¹⁸ They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin. They lead away people who are just beginning to escape from other people who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For a person is a slave of anything that controls him. ²⁰ They were made free from the evil in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they return to evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before. ²¹ Yes, it would be better for them to have never known the right way. That would be better than to know the right way and then to turn away from the holy teaching that was given to them.