Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Powerful King for the Poor
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring shalom to the people,
and the hills righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
and while the moon lasts, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the ground.
7 Let the righteous flourish in his days.
Let shalom abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let desert dwellers bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,
kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 So let all kings bow down before him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
13 He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
and bless him all day.
16 Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are complete.
The King’s Dream and Demand
2 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. His spirit was troubled and sleep escaped him. 2 So the king issued an order to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans in order to explain to the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic[a], “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation.”
5 The king answered the Chaldeans saying, “I firmly decree: If you do not make the dream and its meaning known to me, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses reduced to rubble. 6 But if you tell the dream and its meaning, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its meaning!”
7 They responded a second time, saying, “Let the king tell his servants the dream and we will declare the interpretation.”
8 The king replied saying, “I know for sure that you are buying time since you see that I have firmly decreed 9 that if you do not reveal the dream to me, there is only one verdict[b] for you. You have conspired to say something false and fraudulent, until such a time as things might change. So then, tell me the dream and I will know that you can tell me its meaning.”
10 The Chaldeans answered the king saying, “There is no man on earth who can meet the king’s demand. For no great king, however great or mighty, has ever asked such a thing from any magician, astrologer or Chaldean. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. There is no one who could declare it to the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortals!”
12 Because of this, the king became furiously angry and gave orders to execute all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree went out that the wise men were about to be slaughtered. They also sought Daniel and his companions to execute them. 14 Then Daniel spoke with tact and discretion to Arioch, who was captain of the king’s guard and who had set out to execute the wise men of Babylon. 15 He spoke up and said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the king’s decree so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.
16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to grant him time, so that he might disclose the interpretation to the king. 17 Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah about the matter 18 so they would request mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
The Dream Revealed to Daniel
19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven
Put Off The Old, Put On The New
17 So I tell you this, indeed I insist on it in the Lord—walk no longer as the pagans do, stumbling around in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in them due to the hardness of their heart. 19 Since they are past feeling, they have turned themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of immorality, with greed for more.
20 However, you did not learn Messiah in this way— 21 if indeed you have heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Yeshua. 22 With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, 23 be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 So lay aside lying and “each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”[a] for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, yet do not sin.”[b] Do not let the sun go down on your anger, [c] 27 nor give the devil a foothold. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer—instead he must work, doing something useful with his own hands, so he may have something to share with the one who has need. 29 Let no harmful word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for building others up according to the need, so that it gives grace to those who hear it. 30 Do not grieve the Ruach ha-Kodesh of God,[d] by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and quarreling and slander, along with all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.
Walk in the Light
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children;
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.