Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 37
Instruction in Wisdom
Of David.
1 Do not be agitated by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.(A)
2 For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.(B)
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good;(C)
dwell in the land and live securely.[a](D)
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.(E)
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act,(F)
6 making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.(G)
Judah’s King Hezekiah
18 In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea(A) son of Elah, Hezekiah(B) son of Ahaz became king of Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.(C) 4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.(D) He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,(E) for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.[b]
5 Hezekiah relied on the Lord God of Israel;(F) not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.(G) 6 He remained faithful to the Lord(H) and did not turn from following him but kept the commands the Lord had commanded Moses.
7 The Lord was with him, and wherever he went he prospered.(I) He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.(J) 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders,(K) from watchtower(L) to fortified city.
28 The royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive(A) you; he can’t rescue you from my power.(B) 30 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord by saying, “Certainly the Lord will rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”’(C)
31 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace[a] with me and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree,(D) and each may drink water from his own cistern 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey(E)—so that you may live(F) and not die. But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued(G) his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[b] Have they rescued Samaria from my power?(H) 35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” (I)
36 But the people kept silent; they did not answer him at all, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”
The Letter to Smyrna
8 “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last,(A) the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know your[a] affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.(B) 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil(C) is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days.(D) Be faithful to the point of death,(E) and I will give you the crown[b] of life.(F)
11 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.(G)
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