Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 20

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high [and defend you];

² Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion;

³ Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.

⁵ We will [shout in] triumph at your salvation and victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

⁹ O Lord, give victory; let the King answer us when we call.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, Hear me, men of Shechem, that God may hear you.

⁸ One time the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us.

⁹ But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, by which God and man are honored, and go to wave over the trees?

¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, You come and reign over us.

¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go to wave over the trees?

¹² Then the trees said to the vine (grapevine), You come and reign over us.

¹³ And the vine (grapevine) replied, Should I leave my new wine, which rejoices God and man, and go to wave over the trees?

¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, You come and reign over us.

¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

^18 [a]Boys (lads), it is the last time (hour, the end of this age). And as you have heard that the antichrist [he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ] is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, which confirms our belief that it is the final (the end) time.

¹⁹ They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us.

²⁰ But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things.

²¹ I write to you not because you are ignorant and do not perceive and know the Truth, but because you do perceive and know it, and [know positively] that nothing false (no deception, no lie) is of the Truth.

²² Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonist of Christ), who [^[b]habitually] denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son.

²³ No one who [^[c]habitually] denies (disowns) the Son ^[d]even has the Father. Whoever confesses (acknowledges and has) the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ As for you, keep in your hearts what you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the first dwells and remains in you, then you will dwell in the Son and in the Father [always].

²⁵ And this is what He Himself has promised us—the life, the eternal [life].

²⁶ I write this to you with reference to those who would deceive you [seduce and lead you astray].

²⁷ But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [^[e]permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being ^[f]rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].

²⁸ And now, little children, abide (live, remain ^[g]permanently) in Him, so that when He is made visible, we may have and enjoy perfect confidence (boldness, assurance) and not be ashamed and shrink from Him at His coming.