Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.

To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Lilies, a Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes

14 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you (Jerusalem) will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured and the houses plundered and the women ravished; and half of the city will be exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ In that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from the east to the west by a very large valley, and half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.^{(A) 5} You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; and you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my ^[a]God will come, and all the holy ones (believers, angels) with Him.^(B)

⁶ In that day there will be no light; the glorious ones (heavenly bodies) shall be darkened. ⁷ But it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord—not day and not night, but at evening time there will be light.

⁸ And in that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and half of them to the western sea (the Mediterranean); it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be the only one [worshiped], and His name the only one.

Sanctification and Love

4 Finally, believers, we ask and admonish you in the Lord Jesus, that you follow the instruction that you received from us about how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually doing) and that you excel even more and more [pursuing a life of purpose and living in a way that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation]. ² For you know what commandments and precepts we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from sin]: that you abstain and back away from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from things profane], ⁵ not [to be used] in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God and are ignorant of His will; ⁶ and that [in this matter of sexual misconduct] no man shall transgress and defraud his brother because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we have told you before and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. ⁸ So whoever rejects and disregards this is not [merely] rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you [to dwell in you and empower you to overcome temptation].

⁹ Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write you, for you have been [personally] taught by God to love one another [that is, to have an unselfish concern for others and to do things for their benefit].^{(A) 10} For indeed you already do practice it toward all the ^[a]believers throughout Macedonia [by actively displaying your love and concern for them]. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, that you excel [in this matter] more and more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully, and to mind your own affairs and work with your hands, just as we directed you, ¹² so that you will behave properly toward outsiders [exhibiting good character, personal integrity, and moral courage worthy of the respect of the outside world], and be dependent on no one and in need of nothing [be self-supporting].

Those Who Died in Christ

¹³ Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way—by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus. ¹⁵ For we say this to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede [into His presence] those [believers] who have fallen asleep [in death]. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the ^[b]archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!^{(B) 18} Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].