Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁵ They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. This was in the second year that Darius was king of Persia.

The Beauty of the Temple

2 The Lord spoke his word through Haggai the prophet on the twenty-first day of the seventh month. This is what the Lord said: ² “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah. Speak also to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And speak to the rest of the people who were left alive. Say: ³ ‘Do any of you who are still alive remember how beautiful the Temple was before it was destroyed? What does it look like now? The truth is it means nothing to you!’ ⁴ But the Lord says: ‘Zerubbabel, be brave. Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, be brave. And all you people who live in the land, be brave,’ says the Lord. ‘Work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ⁵ ‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit is still with you. So don’t be afraid.’

⁶ “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘In a short time I will shake the heavens and earth once again. And I will shake the sea and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all the nations. All the nations will bring their wealth. Then I will fill this Temple with glory,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ⁸ ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ⁹ ‘The new Temple will be more beautiful than the one that was destroyed,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ‘And in this place I will give peace to the people,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.”

Praise to God the King

A song of praise. Of David.

The God of Power and Justice

A song.

Evil Things Will Happen

2 Brothers, we have something to say about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to talk to you about that time when we will meet together with him. ² Do not become easily upset in your thinking or afraid if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Someone may have said this in a prophecy or in a message. Or you may read it in a letter that someone tells you came from us. ³ Do not let any person fool you in any way. That day of the Lord will not come until the turning away from God happens. And that day will not come until the Man of Evil^[a] appears. He belongs to hell. ⁴ He is against any so-called god or anything that people worship. And the Man of Evil puts himself above anything called God or anything that people worship. And that Man of Evil even goes into God’s Temple and sits there. Then he says that he is God.

⁵ I told you when I was with you that all this would happen. Do you not remember?

You Are Chosen for Salvation

¹³ Brothers, the Lord loves you. God chose you from the beginning^[a] to be saved. So we must always thank God for you. You are saved by the Spirit that makes you holy and by your faith in the truth. ¹⁴ God used the Good News that we preached to call you to be saved. He called you so that you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So, brothers, stand strong and continue to believe the teachings we gave you. We taught you those things in our speaking and in our letter to you.

^16-17 We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father will comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us. Through his grace he gave us a good hope and comfort that continues forever.

Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

²⁷ Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for his dead brother. ²⁹ One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. ³² The woman was the last to die. ³³ But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”

³⁴ Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. ³⁵ But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. ³⁶ In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. ³⁷ Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[a] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[b] 38} God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”