Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
23 Oh, would that my words were written down!(A)
Would that they were inscribed in a record:[a]
24 That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my vindicator lives,[b]
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.(B)
26 This will happen when my skin has been stripped off,
and from my flesh I will see God:
27 I will see for myself,
my own eyes, not another’s, will behold him:
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
Psalm 17[a]
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors
1 A prayer of David.
I
Hear, Lord, my plea for justice;
pay heed to my cry;
Listen to my prayer
from lips without guile.
2 From you let my vindication come;
your eyes see what is right.
3 You have tested my heart,
searched it in the night.(A)
You have tried me by fire,
but find no malice in me.
My mouth has not transgressed
4 as others often do.
As your lips have instructed me,
I have kept from the way of the lawless.
5 My steps have kept to your paths;
my feet have not faltered.(B)
II
6 I call upon you; answer me, O God.
Turn your ear to me; hear my speech.
7 Show your wonderful mercy,
you who deliver with your right arm
those who seek refuge from their foes.
8 [b]Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who despoil me.(C)
III
My ravenous enemies press upon me;(D)
II. Warning Against Deception Concerning the Parousia
Chapter 2
Christ and the Lawless One.[a] 1 We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him,(A) 2 not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,”[b] or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.(B) 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed,[c] the one doomed to perdition, 4 (C)who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God,[d] claiming that he is a god— 5 do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things?
13 But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits[a] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth.(A) 14 To this end he has [also] called you through our gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.(B) 15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.[b]
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.
27 Some Sadducees,[a] those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him,(A) 28 [b]saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’(B) 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. 30 Then the second 31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.[c] 37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;(C) 38 and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”(D)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.