Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
65 Our God, we look forward to praising you in Zion.
We will keep our promises to you.
2 All people will come to you,
because you hear and answer prayer.
3 When our sins became too much for us,
you forgave our lawless acts.
4 Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to worship you.
You bring us into the courtyards of your holy temple.
There in your house we are filled with all kinds of good things.
5 God our Savior, you answer us with right and wonderful deeds.
People all over the world and beyond the farthest oceans
put their hope in you.
6 You formed the mountains by your power.
You showed how strong you are.
7 You calmed the oceans and their roaring waves.
You calmed the angry words and actions of the nations.
8 Everyone on earth is amazed at the wonderful things you have done.
What you do makes people from one end of the earth to the other sing for joy.
9 You take care of the land and water it.
You make it able to grow many crops.
You fill your streams with water.
You do that to provide the people with grain.
That’s what you have decided to do for the land.
10 You water its rows.
You smooth out its bumps.
You soften it with showers.
And you bless its crops.
11 You bring the year to a close with huge crops.
You provide more than enough food.
12 The grass grows thick even in the desert.
The hills are dressed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks and herds.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They sing and shout for joy.
6 You have heard me tell you these things.
Think about all of them.
Won’t you admit they have taken place?
“From now on I will tell you about new things that will happen.
I have not made them known to you before.
7 These things are taking place right now.
They did not happen long ago.
You have not heard of them before today.
So you can’t say,
‘Oh, yes. I already knew about them.’
8 You have not heard or understood what I said.
Your ears have been plugged up for a long time.
I knew very well that you would turn against me.
From the day you were born, you have refused to obey me.
9 For the honor of my own name I wait to show my anger.
I hold it back from you so people will continue to praise me.
I do not want to destroy you completely.
10 I have tested you in the furnace of suffering.
I have tried to make you pure.
But I did not use as much heat as it takes to make silver pure.
11 I tried to purify you for my own honor.
I did it for the honor of my name.
How can I let myself be dishonored?
I will not give up my glory to any other god.
Paul Serves the Gentiles
14 My brothers and sisters, I am sure that you are full of goodness. You are filled with knowledge and able to teach one another. 15 But I have written to you very boldly about some things. I wanted to remind you of them again. The grace of God has allowed me 16 to serve Christ Jesus among the Gentiles. I have the duty of a priest to preach God’s good news. Then the Gentiles will become an offering that pleases God. The Holy Spirit will make the offering holy.
17 Because I belong to Christ Jesus, I can take pride in my work for God. 18 I will speak about what Christ has done through me. I won’t try to speak about anything else. He has been leading the Gentiles to obey God. He has been doing this by what I have said and done. 19 He has given me power to do signs and wonders. I can do these things by the power of the Spirit of God. From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have finished preaching. In those places, I preached the good news about Christ. 20 I have always wanted to preach the good news where Christ was not known. I don’t want to build on what someone else has started. 21 It is written,
“Those who were not told about him will understand.
Those who have not heard will know what it all means.” (Isaiah 52:15)
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