Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 Jerusalem and all her friends, be happy!
All of you who were sad for her, be happy and rejoice with her!
11 Be happy that you will receive mercy
like milk coming from her breast.
Jerusalem’s “milk” will satisfy you!
You will drink it and enjoy her glory.
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Look, I will give Jerusalem peace that will flow in like a river.
Wealth from all the nations will come flowing into her like a flood.
And like little babies, you will drink that ‘milk.’
I will hold you in my arms,
and bounce you on my knees.
13 I will comfort you like a mother comforting her child.
You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14 When you see these things, you will be happy.
You will be free and grow like grass.
The Lord’s servants will see his power,
but his enemies will see his anger.
To the director: A song of praise.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Praise his glorious name!
Honor him with songs of praise!
3 Tell God, “Your works are wonderful!
Your great power makes your enemies bow down in fear before you.
4 Let the whole world worship you.
Let everyone sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Look at what God has done!
These things amaze us.
6 He changed the sea to dry land,[a]
and his people went across the water[b] on foot.
So let’s celebrate because of what he has done!
7 He rules the world with his great power.
He watches people everywhere.
No one can rebel against him. Selah
8 People, praise our God.
Sing loud songs of praise to him.
9 He continues to give us life,
and he keeps us from falling.
Help Each Other
6 Brothers and sisters, someone in your group might do something wrong. You who are following the Spirit should go to the one who is sinning. Help make that person right again, and do it in a gentle way. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin too. 2 Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to do this, you are only fooling yourself. 4 Don’t compare yourself with others. Just look at your own work to see if you have done anything to be proud of. 5 You must each accept the responsibilities that are yours.
Never Stop Doing Good
6 Whoever is being taught God’s word should share the good things they have with the one who is teaching them.
7 If you think you can fool God, you are only fooling yourselves. You will harvest what you plant. 8 If you live to satisfy your sinful self, the harvest you will get from that will be eternal death. But if you live to please the Spirit, your harvest from the Spirit will be eternal life. 9 We must not get tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up. 10 When we have the opportunity to do good to anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.
Paul Ends His Letter
11 This is my own handwriting. You can see how big the letters are. 12 Those men who are trying to force you to be circumcised are only doing it so that their people will accept them. They are afraid they will be persecuted if they follow only the cross[a] of Christ. 13 They are circumcised, but they don’t obey the law themselves. They want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about what they did to you.
14 I hope I will never boast about things like that. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is my only reason for boasting. Through Jesus’ death on the cross the world is dead[b] to me, and I am dead to the world. 15 It doesn’t matter if anyone is circumcised or not. The only thing that matters is this new life we have from God.[c] 16 Peace and mercy to those who follow this rule—to all God’s people.[d]
Jesus Sends Out 72 of His Followers
10 After this, the Lord chose 72[a] more followers. He sent them out in groups of two. He sent them ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. 2 He said to them, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them. God owns the harvest. Ask him to send more workers to help bring in his harvest.
3 “You can go now. But listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. 4 Don’t carry any money, a bag, or sandals. Don’t stop to talk with people on the road. 5 Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this home.’ 6 If the people living there love peace, your blessing of peace will stay with them. But if not, your blessing of peace will come back to you. 7 Stay in the peace-loving house. Eat and drink what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t leave that house to stay in another house.
8 “If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat the food they give you. 9 Heal the sick people who live there, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is now very near you[b]!’
10 “But if you go into a town and the people don’t welcome you, then go out into the streets of that town and say, 11 ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that God’s kingdom is coming soon.’
16 “When anyone listens to you my followers, they are really listening to me. But when anyone refuses to accept you, they are really refusing to accept me. And when anyone refuses to accept me, they are refusing to accept the one who sent me.”
Satan Falls
17 When the 72 followers came back from their trip, they were very happy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”
18 Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. 19 He is the enemy, but know that I have given you more power than he has. I have given you power to crush his snakes and scorpions under your feet. Nothing will hurt you. 20 Yes, even the spirits obey you. And you can be happy, not because you have this power, but because your names are written in heaven.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International