Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
For the choir director; set to [a]El Shoshannim; [b]Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Oh, give ear, (A)Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your power
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, [c]and we will be saved.
4 O (H)Lord God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [d]be angry with the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [e]large measure.
6 You make us [f]an object of contention (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes
14 Behold, a (A)day is coming for the Lord when (B)the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will (C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the (D)houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and (E)fight against those nations, as [a]when He fights on a day of battle. 4 In that day His feet will (F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be (G)split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the (H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. (I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with [b]Him!
6 In that day there will be (J)no light; the [c]luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be (K)a unique day which is (L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at (M)evening time there will be light.
8 And in that day (N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
God Will Be King over All
9 And the Lord will be (O)king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only (P)one, and His name the only one.
Sanctification and Love
4 (A)Finally then, (B)brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to [a](C)walk and (D)please God (just as you actually do [b]walk), that you (E)excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you [c]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you (F)abstain from [d]sexual immorality; 4 that (G)each of you know how to [e]possess his own [f](H)vessel in sanctification and (I)honor, 5 not in [g](J)lustful passion, like the Gentiles who (K)do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and (L)defraud his brother (M)in the matter because (N)the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also (O)told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For (P)God has not called us for (Q)the purpose of impurity, but [h]in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who (R)gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now as to the (S)love of the brethren, you (T)have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are (U)taught by God to love one another; 10 for indeed (V)you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to (W)excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition (X)to lead a quiet life and (Y)attend to your own business and (Z)work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will [i](AA)behave properly toward (AB)outsiders and [j](AC)not be in any need.
Those Who Died in Christ
13 But (AD)we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who (AE)are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do (AF)the rest who have (AG)no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, (AH)even so God will bring with Him (AI)those who have fallen asleep [k]in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you (AJ)by the word of the Lord, that (AK)we who are alive [l]and remain until (AL)the coming of the Lord, will not precede (AM)those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord (AN)Himself (AO)will descend from heaven with a [m](AP)shout, with the voice of (AQ)the archangel and with the (AR)trumpet of God, and (AS)the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then (AT)we who are alive [n]and remain will be (AU)caught up together with them (AV)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always (AW)be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.