); Isaiah 51:1-3 (Look to Abraham and Sarah); Matthew 11:20-24 (Jesus prophesies against the cities) (New Century Version)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God, the King of the World
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with joy.
2 The Lord Most High is wonderful.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He defeated nations for us
and put them under our control.
4 He chose the land we would inherit.
We are the children of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has risen with a shout of joy;
the Lord has risen as the trumpets sounded.
6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises.
Sing praises to our King. Sing praises.
7 God is King of all the earth,
so sing a song of praise to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of the nations meet
with the people of the God of Abraham,
because the leaders of the earth belong to God.
He is supreme.
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
51 The Lord says, “Listen to me,
those of you who try to live right and follow the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were cut;
look at the stone quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look at Abraham, your ancestor,
and Sarah, who gave birth to your ancestors.
Abraham had no children when I called him,
but I blessed him and gave him many descendants.
3 So the Lord will comfort Jerusalem;
he will show mercy to those who live in her ruins.
He will change her deserts into a garden like Eden;
he will make her empty lands like the garden of the Lord.
People there will be very happy;
they will give thanks and sing songs.
Jesus Warns Unbelievers
20 Then Jesus criticized the cities where he did most of his miracles, because the people did not change their lives and stop sinning. 21 He said, “How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the same miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon,[a] those people would have changed their lives a long time ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. 22 But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum,[b] will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the depths. If the miracles I did in you had happened in Sodom,[c] its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. 24 But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for you.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.