Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 80[a]
Prayer to Restore God’s Vineyard
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.” Eduth.[b] A psalm of Asaph.
I
2 O Shepherd of Israel, lend an ear,
you who guide Joseph like a flock!
Seated upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
3 upon Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Stir up your power, and come to save us.
4 (B)O God, restore us;
light up your face and we shall be saved.
II
17 Those who would burn or cut it down—
may they perish at your rebuke.
18 May your hand be with the man on your right,[a]
with the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
19 Then we will not withdraw from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
Chapter 14
Devastation and Rescue of Jerusalem. 1 [a]A day is coming for the Lord when the spoils taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle: The city will be taken, houses will be plundered, women raped; half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, fighting as on a day of battle.(A) 4 On that day God’s feet will stand[b] on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a very deep valley,(B) and half of the mountain will move to the north and half of it to the south. 5 You will flee by the valley between the mountains, for the valley between the mountains will reach to Azal. Thus you will flee as you fled because of the earthquake[c] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.(C) Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all his holy ones with him.(D)
Jerusalem Restored. 6 On that day there will no longer be cold or frost. 7 There will be one continuous day—it is known to the Lord—not day and night, for in the evening there will be light. 8 On that day, fresh water will flow from Jerusalem,(E) half to the eastern sea, and half to the western sea. This will be so in summer and in winter. 9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth;(F) on that day the Lord will be the only one, and the Lord’s name the only one.
III. Specific Exhortations
Chapter 4
General Exhortations. 1 Finally, brothers, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God—and as you are conducting yourselves—you do so even more. 2 For you know what instructions[a] we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
Holiness in Sexual Conduct.[b] 3 This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality, 4 that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself in holiness and honor, 5 not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who do not know God;(A) 6 not to take advantage of or exploit a brother in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly affirmed. 7 For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. 8 Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who [also] gives his holy Spirit to you.(B)
Mutual Charity. 9 On the subject of mutual charity you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.(C) 10 Indeed, you do this for all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Nevertheless we urge you, brothers, to progress even more,(D) 11 and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your [own] hands, as we instructed you, 12 that you may conduct yourselves properly toward outsiders and not depend on anyone.
Hope for the Christian Dead. 13 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.(E) 15 Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord,[c] will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.(F) 16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.(G) 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together[d] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, console one another with these words.
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.