Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Happy People in Jerusalem
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
122 I was happy when they said to me,
“Let’s go to the Temple of the Lord.”
2 Jerusalem, we are standing
at your gates.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
where friends can come together.
4 The people from the tribes go up there.
The tribes belong to the Lord.
It is the rule to praise
the Lord at Jerusalem.
5 There the descendants of David
set their thrones to judge the people.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem:
“May those who love her be safe.
7 May there be peace within her walls
and safety within her strong towers.”
8 To help my relatives and friends,
I repeat, “Let Jerusalem have peace.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I wish good for her.
11 People on earth did what God said was evil. Violence was everywhere. 12 And God saw this evil. All people on the earth did only evil. 13 So God said to Noah, “People have made the earth full of violence. So I will destroy all people from the earth. 14 Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with tar. 15 This is how big I want you to build the boat: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make an opening around the top of the boat. Make it 18 inches high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an upper, middle and lower deck in it. 17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth. I will destroy all living things that live under the sky. This includes everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die. 18 But I will make an agreement with you. You, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will all go into the boat. 19 Also, you must bring into the boat two of every living thing, male and female. Keep them alive with you. 20 There will be two of every kind of bird, animal and crawling thing. They will come to you to be kept alive. 21 Also gather some of every kind of food. Store it on the boat as food for you and the animals.”
22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.
The Temple Will Be Destroyed
24 Jesus left the Temple and was walking away. But his followers came to show him the Temple’s buildings. 2 Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”
3 Later, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. His followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and for the world to end?”
4 Jesus answered: “Be careful that no one fools you. 5 Many people will come in my name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will fool many people. 6 You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. 7 Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. 8 These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.
9 “Then men will arrest you and hand you over to be hurt and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me. 10 At that time, many who believe will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe false things. 12 There will be more and more evil in the world. So most people will stop showing their love for each other. 13 But the person who continues to be strong until the end will be saved. 14 The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.
15 “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the horrible thing that destroys.’[a] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) 16 “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. 17 If a person is on the roof[b] of his house, he must not go down to get anything out of his house. 18 If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. 19 At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 20 Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. 21 This is because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. 22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.