Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song for worship.)

The Lord's People Are Safe

Faithfulness Is Rewarded

¹⁶ All those who truly respected the Lord and honored his name started discussing these things, and when God saw what was happening, he had their names^[a] written as a reminder in his book.

¹⁷ Then the Lord All-Powerful said:

You people are precious to me, and when I come to bring justice, I will protect you, just as parents protect an obedient child. ¹⁸ Then everyone will once again see the difference between those who obey me by doing right and those who reject me by doing wrong.

The Day of Judgment

The Lord said:

4 The day of judgment is certain to come. And it will be like a red-hot furnace with flames that burn up proud and sinful people, as though they were straw. Not a branch or a root will be left. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken! ² But for you that honor my name, victory will shine like the sun with healing in its rays, and you will jump around like calves at play. ³ When I come to bring justice, you will trample those who are evil, as though they were ashes under your feet. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!

⁴ Don't ever forget the laws and teachings I gave my servant Moses on Mount Sinai.^[b]

^5 (A) I, the Lord, promise to send the prophet Elijah before that great and terrible day comes. ⁶ He will lead children and parents to love each other more, so that when I come, I won't bring destruction to the land.

⁹ As Jesus and his disciples were coming down the mountain, he told them not to say a word about what they had seen, until the Son of Man had been raised from death. ¹⁰ So they kept it to themselves. But they wondered what he meant by the words “raised from death.”

^11 (A) The disciples asked Jesus, “Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?”

^12 (B) Jesus answered:

Elijah certainly will come^[a] to get everything ready. But don't the Scriptures also say that the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected? ¹³ I can assure you that Elijah has already come. And people treated him just as they wanted to, as the Scriptures say they would.