Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This psalm is a song for the music leader.
Praise God![a]
66 Everyone on earth, shout aloud to praise God,
because you are very happy.
2 Sing to praise his great name!
Praise him in the way that he deserves.
3 Say to God, ‘You do great things!
Your great power makes your enemies afraid.
They come to you and they bend down to the ground.
4 The whole world bends down to worship you.
Everyone sings to praise your name.’
Selah.
5 Come and see the great things that God has done.
He has done wonderful miracles for people!
6 He caused the Red Sea to become dry land.
Then his people walked across the Jordan River![b]
So we praise him for what he did there!
7 He has the power to rule for ever.
He watches everything that the nations do.
Wicked people should not be proud and turn against him.
Selah.
8 You people from every nation,
agree that our God is great!
Praise him with loud voices,
so that everyone can hear!
9 He keeps our lives safe.
He does not let us fall to the ground.
47 So the time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols.
The whole country will become ashamed.
Its people will die and their dead bodies will lie everywhere.
48 Then everyone in heaven and everyone on the earth
will shout with joy because of what happens to Babylon.
They will be happy because an army will come from the north to destroy it.’
That is what the Lord says.
49 ‘Babylon's people have caused the death of people everywhere.
They have killed many Israelites.
So now Babylon must lose its power.
50 You Israelites who are still alive,
leave Babylon now! Do not wait!
You are far away from your homes.
But remember that the Lord is with you.
Think about Jerusalem.
51 You say, “We are ashamed. People have insulted us.
We hide our faces in shame
because foreigners have gone into the holy places of the Lord's temple.” ’
52 But the Lord says this:
‘The time will soon come when I will punish Babylon's idols.
People everywhere in that land will cry with pain,
because their wounds are causing them to die.
53 Babylon's people may build their city very high.
They may make its walls very strong.
But I will send an army to destroy it.’
That is what the Lord says.
54 ‘Listen to the noise that comes from Babylon!
People are crying in pain.
Listen to the noise of the enemy army
as it destroys Babylonia.
55 The Lord is preparing to destroy Babylon.
No noise will come from there any more.
The enemy soldiers will attack like great waves of water.
There will be a loud noise of battle.
56 An army is coming to destroy Babylon.
They will take hold of its brave soldiers.
They will break their weapons.
The Lord is a God who punishes people as they deserve.
He always pays them back for their sins.
57 I will make Babylon's officers and its wise men drunk,
as well as its rulers, its leaders and its soldiers.
They will sleep for ever
and they will never wake up again.’
That is what the King says. His name is the Lord Almighty.
58 The Lord Almighty says this:
‘The enemy will completely knock down the strong walls of Babylon.
They will burn its high gates with fire.
The nations work very hard,
but their work is useless.
They make themselves tired,
but fire destroys all their work.’
Help for the poor people at Jerusalem
8 My Christian friends, let me tell you about the believers in the churches in Macedonia. God has been very kind to them. 2 They have had bad troubles, but they continued to be very happy. As a result, they gave a lot of money to other people. They themselves are very poor, but they still helped other people a lot. 3 Let me tell you this. They gave as much money as they were able to give. Then they gave even more than that! They gave it because they wanted to. 4 They wanted the chance to help God's people. That would make them happy. So they asked us many times to help them to do this. 5 They did more than we had even hoped for! First, they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they also gave themselves to us. They did that because God wanted them to do it.
6 Because of that, we asked Titus to continue to help you. He is the person who helped you to start giving money. So he will help you to finish this good work. 7 You have so much of everything! You trust God very well. You speak well. You know everything. You want to do many good things. You love us even more than we love you! So also do the best that you can as you give money to help others.
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