Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
To the Chief Musician; in a mournful strain. A skillful song, or didactic or reflective poem of David.
53 The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and evil, and have committed repulsive injustice;
There is no one who does good.
2
God has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God [who requires Him, who longs for Him as essential to life].
3
Every one of them has turned aside and fallen away;
Together they have become filthy and corrupt;
There is no one who does good, no, not even one.(A)
4
Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.
5
There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
6
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores [the fortunes of] His people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall [a]humble yourselves [by fasting] and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them]. 30 If there is any person who does any work on this same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You shall do no work at all [on that day]. It is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you may be. 32 It is to be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”
The Feast of Booths
33 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Say to the children of Israel, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and for seven days, is the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) to the Lord. 35 The first day is a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. 36 For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the Lord. It is a festive assembly; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].
37 ‘These are the appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to present an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its own day. 38 This is in addition to the [weekly] Sabbaths of the Lord, and in addition to your gifts and all your vowed offerings and all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.
39 ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month (nearly October), when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord for seven days, with a Sabbath rest on the first day and a Sabbath rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook [and make booths of them]; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
The Fourfold Hallelujah
19 After these [a]things I heard something like the great and mighty shout of a vast multitude in heaven, [b]exclaiming,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory (splendor, majesty) and power (dominion, might) belong to our God; 2 because His judgments are true and righteous. He has judged [convicted and pronounced sentence on] the great prostitute (idolatress) who was corrupting and ruining and poisoning the earth with her adultery (idolatry), and He has imposed the penalty for the blood of His bond-servants [c]on her.”(A) 3 And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke shall ascend forever and ever.”(B) 4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures also fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah (praise the Lord)!”(C) 5 Then from the throne there came a voice, saying,
“Praise our God, all you bond-servants of His, you who fear Him, the small (common) and the great (distinguished).”(D)
Marriage of the Lamb
6 Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all] reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us give Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come [at last] and His bride (the redeemed) has prepared herself.”(E) 8 She has been permitted to dress in fine linen, dazzling white and clean—for the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers].
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