Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. According to mahalath. A maskil of David.
53 Foolish people say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They do all kinds of horrible and evil things.
No one does anything good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on all people.
He wants to see if there are any who understand.
He wants to see if there are any who trust in God.
3 All of them have turned away.
They have all become evil.
No one does anything good,
no one at all.
4 Don’t these people who do evil know anything?
They eat up my people as if they were eating bread.
They never call out to God for help.
5 Just look at them! They are filled with terror
even when there is nothing to be afraid of!
People of Israel, God scattered the bones of those who attacked you.
You put them to shame, because God hated them.
6 How I pray that the God who saves Israel will come out of Zion!
God will bless his people with great success again.
Then let the people of Jacob be filled with joy! Let Israel be glad!
The Sabbath Year
25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘You will enter the land I am going to give you. When you do, you must honor the Lord every seventh year by not farming the land that year. 3 For six years plant your fields. Trim the branches in your vineyards and gather your crops. 4 But the seventh year must be a year of sabbath rest for the land. The land must rest during it. It is a sabbath year to honor the Lord. Do not plant your fields. Do not trim the branches in your vineyards. 5 Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. The land must have a year of rest. 6 Anything the land produces during the sabbath year will be food for you. It will be for you and your male and female servants. Your hired workers will eat it. So will people who live with you for a while. 7 And so will your livestock and the wild animals that are in your land. Anything the land produces can be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8 “ ‘Count off seven sabbath years. Count off seven times seven years. The seven sabbath years add up to a total of 49 years. 9 The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when sin is paid for. On that day blow the trumpet all through your land. 10 Set the 50th year apart. Announce freedom all over the land to everyone who lives there. The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Each of you must return to your own family property. And each of you must return to your own tribe. 11 The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Do not plant anything. Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. 12 It is a Year of Jubilee. It will be holy for you. Eat only what the fields produce.
13 “ ‘In the Year of Jubilee all of you must return to your own property.
14 “ ‘Suppose you sell land to any of your own people. Or you buy land from them. Then do not take advantage of each other. 15 The price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last Year of Jubilee. Here is how the price you charge must be decided. It must be based on the number of years left for gathering crops before the next Year of Jubilee. 16 When there are many years left, you must raise the price. When there are only a few years left, you must lower the price. That is because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops the land will produce. 17 Do not take advantage of each other. Instead, have respect for your God. I am the Lord your God.
18 “ ‘Follow my rules. Be careful to obey my laws. Then you will live safely in the land. 19 The land will produce its fruit. You will eat as much as you want. And you will live there in safety.
9 Here is what the angel told me to write. “Blessed are those invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” Then he added, “These are the true words of God.”
10 When I heard this, I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I serve God, just as you do. I am God’s servant, just like believers who hold firmly to what Jesus has taught. Worship God! The Spirit of prophecy tells the truth about Jesus.”
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