Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 46
For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a well-proven help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she will not be moved;
God will help her in the early dawn.
6 The nations roared; the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice; the earth melted.
7 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who makes desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts off the spear;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of Hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
12 And the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, “The words of the prophets are as one voice and only for good to the king, so may your word be like one of them, and you speak favorably.”
13 And Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that will I speak.”
14 When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go up to Ramoth Gilead for battle, or should I cease?”
He said, “All of you go up and be successful, and they will be given into your hands.”
15 Then the king said to him, “How many times must I cause you to swear that you speak to me only truth in the name of the Lord?”
16 Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. The Lord said, ‘There are no masters for them. Let each man return to his home in peace.’ ”
17 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
18 So the prophet said, “Now hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne and the heavenly assembly was standing at His right and His left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will deceive Ahab king of Israel so that he might go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’
“One was saying one thing, and another was saying something else. 20 Then a spirit came out and stood before the Lord, and he said, ‘I will deceive him.’
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘How?’
21 “Then he said, ‘I will go out and be a spirit of deception in the mouth of all the prophets.’
“Then the Lord said, ‘You will deceive and find success. Go out and do this.’
22 “Now see that the Lord has put a spirit of deception in the mouth of your prophets. So the Lord has declared disaster over you.”
Christ’s Sacrifice Takes Away Sin
23 It was therefore necessary that the replicas of heavenly things be cleansed with these sacrifices, but that the heavenly things themselves be cleansed with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, which are patterned after the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. 25 Nor did He enter to offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 For then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the world was created, but now He has appeared once at the end of the ages to put away sin by sacrificing Himself. 27 As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to save those who eagerly wait for Him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.