Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
105 Praise the LORD! Call upon His Name! Declare His works among the people!
2 Sing to Him! Sing praise to Him! Talk of all His wondrous works!
3 Rejoice in His Holy Name! Let the heart of those who seek the LORD, rejoice!
4 Seek the LORD and His strength. Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His marvelous works that He has done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth
6 you seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob who are His Elect.
7 He is the LORD our God. His judgments are through all the Earth.
8 He has always remembered His Covenant promise that He made to a thousand generations
9 (which he made with Abraham) and his oath to Isaac.
10 And He has since confirmed it to Jacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant,
11 saying, “To You I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,”
12 when they were few in number (indeed, very few) and strangers in the land
13 and walked about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.
14 Still, He allowed no man to do them wrong, but rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
15 “Do not touch My anointed, nor do my Prophets harm.”
16 Moreover, He called a famine upon the land, and utterly broke the staff of bread.
17 But, He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.
18 They held his feet in the stocks; and he was laid in irons
19 until his appointed time came, and the counsel of the LORD had tried him.
20 The King sent and released him. The ruler of the people delivered him.
21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance,
22 so that he could bind his princes to his will and teach his ancients wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt, and Jacob was a stranger in the land of Ham.
24 And He increased His people exceedingly and made them stronger than their oppressors.
25 He turned their heart to hate His people, and to deal craftily with His servants.
26 He sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They showed the message of His signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made it dark. And they were not disobedient to His commission.
29 He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs, even in their king’s chambers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies and lice in all their quarters.
32 He gave them hail for rain, and flames of fire in their land.
33 He also struck their vines and their fig trees and broke down the trees on their coasts.
34 He spoke, and the grasshoppers came, and innumerable caterpillars,
35 and ate up all the grass in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He also struck all the firstborn in their land, even the beginning of all their strength.
37 He also brought them forth with silver and gold, and there was no one feeble among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad at their departing, for the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a cloud to be a covering, and fire to give light in the night.
40 They asked, and He brought quails; and He filled them with the bread of Heaven.
41 He opened the rock and the water flowed out and ran like a river in the dry places.
42 For He remembered His Holy Promise to Abraham, His servant.
20 Also after this the children of Moab came, and the children of Ammon and some others besides the Ammonites, to do battle against Jehoshaphat.
2 Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude comes against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram. And behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar.” (which is En Gedi)
3 And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask counsel of the LORD. They even came out of all the cities of Judah to inquire of the LORD.
5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the Congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the House of the LORD, in front of the new court,
6 and said, “O LORD God of our fathers! Are You not God in Heaven? And do You not reign over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Your Hand is power and might! And no one is able to withstand You.
7 “Did not You, our God, cast out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the seed of Abraham, Your friend, forever?
8 “And they dwelt in it, and have built You a Sanctuary in it for Your Name, saying,
9 ‘if misery comes upon us as the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this House, and in Your presence (for Your Name is in this House), and will cry to You in our tribulation. And You will hear and help.’
10 “And now behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, by whom You would not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, they have turned aside from them and have not destroyed them.
11 “Behold, I say, they reward us by coming to cast us out of Your inheritance which You have caused us to inherit.
12 “O, our God! Will You not judge them? For there is no strength in us before this great multitude that comes against us, nor do we know what to do! But our eyes are toward You.”
13 And all Judah stood before the LORD with their young ones, their wives, and their children.
14 And Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, upon whom came the Spirit of the LORD, was in the midst of the Congregation.
15 And he said, “Listen all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Neither fear nor be afraid of this great multitude! For the battle is not yours, but God’s!
16 “Go down against them tomorrow. Behold, they come up by the cleft of Ziz. And you shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
17 “You shall not need to fight in this. Stand still. Do not move. And behold the salvation of the LORD towards you. O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be afraid! Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you!”
18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the earth. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
19 And the Levites of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20 And when they arose early in the morning, they went forth to the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they departed, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Put your trust in the LORD your God, and you shall be established! Believe His Prophets and you shall prosper!”
21 And after he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the LORD, and those who would praise in the beautiful Sanctuary by going forth before the men of arms, and saying, “Praise the LORD! For His mercy endures forever!”
22 And when they began to shout and to praise, the LORD laid ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah. And they were stricken.
22 And He went through all cities and towns, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem.
23 Then someone said to Him, “Lord, are there few who shall be saved?” And He said to them,
24 “Strive to enter in at the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
25 “When the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door; and you began to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us’, and he shall answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
26 “Then you shall begin to say, ‘We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets.’
27 “But he shall say, ‘I tell you. I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’
28 “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God; and yourselves thrust out at the doors.
29 “Then many shall come from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south and shall sit at table in the Kingdom of God.
30 “And behold, there are last who shall be first. And there are first who shall be last.”
31 The same day, some Pharisees came and said to Him, “Depart and go from here! For Herod wants to kill you!”
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