◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Psalm 92:1-4 12-15 (The righteous flourish like a palm tree); Proverbs 15:1-9 (A gentle tongue is a tree of life); 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (The trumpet of resurrection) (New Catholic Bible)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with sequential stories told across multiple weeks.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 92:1-4

Psalm 92^[a]

Praise of God’s Just Rule

¹A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath.^[b]

²It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praise to your name,^[c] O Most High,
³to proclaim your kindness^[d] in the morning
    and your faithfulness during the night,
⁴with the ten-stringed harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.

Psalm 92:12-15

¹²My eyes have witnessed the downfall of my enemies;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
¹³^[a]The righteous will flourish like the palm tree;
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
¹⁴They are planted in the house of the Lord^[b]
    and will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁵They still will bear fruit, in their old age,
    and they will remain fresh and green,

Proverbs 15:1-9

Chapter 15

The Lord Loves Anyone Whose Goal Is Righteousness^[a]

¹A gentle reply turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word arouses anger.
²The tongue of the wise distills knowledge,
    but the mouth of a fool utters nothing except folly.^[b]
³The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,^[c]
    keeping a close watch on the evil and the good.
⁴A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
    but an undisciplined tongue crushes the spirit.
⁵A fool spurns his father’s correction,
    but whoever heeds admonition is prudent.
⁶In the house of the righteous there is no lack of treasures,
    but the earnings of the wicked are never secure.
⁷The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
    such is not true of the heart of a fool.
⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,^[d]
    but he delights in the prayer of the upright.
⁹The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
    but he loves anyone whose goal is righteousness.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

¹³The Dead and the Living at the Lord’s Coming.^[a] We do not wish you to be uncertain, brethren, about those who have fallen asleep.^[b] You should not grieve as do those who have no hope. ¹⁴For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so too do we believe that God will bring forth with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

¹⁵Indeed, we can assure you, on the word of the Lord himself, that we who are still alive at the coming of the Lord will not have any advantage over those who have fallen asleep.^[c] ¹⁶When the command is given, at the sound of the archangel’s voice and the call of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise.

¹⁷Then those of us who are still alive and are left will be caught up^[d] together with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore, comfort one another^[e] with these words.

Footnotes

1 Thessalonians 4:13 We are now at the heart of the Letter. Some Christians of Thessalonica have a few difficulties. One or other believer has died, and they cannot shake the image of those beautiful cemeteries built at the edge of cities like “high places” of despair. Christ must appear; this definitive coming mobilizes the hope of all; but will not Christians who have died be deprived of this grand and triumphant coming?
In speaking of this resurrection, Paul uses the images and symbols of the Jewish apocalypses, just as in describing the return of Christ he compares it to the “parousias” or official visits of the emperors to the great cities, where the people escorted them in a lengthy procession. The scene has its grandeur, but the essential is to be found elsewhere: the solid conviction of believers that they are with Christ forever. These words sum up the final message of Christian hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 Those who have fallen asleep: sleep was an especially apt metaphor for death, since the finality and horror of death disappear in the assurance of the resurrection.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 Here Paul seems to be hoping that the parousia would take place within his own lifetime. We can say that while entertaining the possibility of his own death (see 2 Tim 4:6-8) and not wanting to go against Christ’s teaching about the date of the parousia (see Mt 24:48; 25:5; Lk 19:11-27), Paul (and all the first Christians) reckoned on the prospect of remaining alive until Christ’s return (Rom 13:11; 1 Cor 7:26, 29; 10:11; 15:51-52; 16:22; Phil 4:5). The word of the Lord: this may refer to a special revelation or simply be a general reference to the teachings of Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Will be caught up: literally, “will be carried away,” which in the Vulgate is translated by rapiemur. This Latin word has given birth to the idea of the “Rapture,” i.e., that believers will be carried away from the troubles of this world. It simply means that those who are alive on the Last Day will not have to die; they will be transformed.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 Comfort one another: vv. 13-18 are not primarily intended to provide a chronology of future events but rather to urge the Thessalonians to comfort one another.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 92[a]

Praise of God’s Just Rule

Footnotes

Footnotes

Chapter 15

The Lord Loves Anyone Whose Goal Is Righteousness[a]

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 92^[a]

The Lord Loves Anyone Whose Goal Is Righteousness^[a]