Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Israel’s Praise to the Lord
12 At that time,[a] you will say:
“I will praise you, Lord,
for although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away,
and you have comforted me.
2 “Look! God—yes God—is[b] my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid.
For the Lord[c] is my strength and my song,[d]
and he has become my salvation.”
3 You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:[e]
4 “Give thanks to the Lord;
call on his name.
Make known his actions
among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord,[f]
because he has acted gloriously,
being made[g] known in all the world.
6 Shout aloud, and sing for joy,
you who live in Zion,
because great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.”
15 Truth is missing,
and whoever turns away from evil becomes a prey.”
God Brings His Own Salvation
“Then the Lord looked, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
and was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm[a] brought him victory,
and his righteous acts upheld him.
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in fury like a cloak.
18 So he will repay according to their action:
Anger to his enemies, retribution to his foes;
to the coastlands he will render their due.
19 So people will fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glories[b] from the rising of the sun;
for he will come as a pent-up stream
that the breath of the Lord drives along.
20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,”[c] says the Lord. “And[d] my Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, won’t depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children,[e] from now on and forever.”
The Coming of the Kingdom(A)
20 Once Jesus[a] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display. 21 People[b] won’t be saying, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ because now the kingdom of God is among[c] you.”
22 Then Jesus[d] told the disciples, “The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you,[e] but you won’t see it. 23 People[f] will say to you, ‘Look! There he is!’ or ‘Look! Here he is!’ But don’t go and chase after him. 24 Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.[g] 25 But first he must suffer a great deal and be rejected by those living today.[h]
26 “Just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be in the Son of Man’s time. 27 People[i] were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them. 28 So it was in Lot’s time. People[j] were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the very day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.
31 “The person who is on the housetop that day must not come down to get his belongings out of his house. The person in the field, too, must not turn back to what’s left behind. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to save his life[k] will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, two will be seated on the same couch[l] that night. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind. 35 Two women will be grinding grain[m] together. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind.”[n]
37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord, will this take place?”[o]
He told them, “Wherever there’s a corpse, that’s where the vultures[p] will gather.”
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