Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Call to Worship the Lord

96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. ² Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. ³ Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. ⁴ For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.

⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. ⁸ Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. ⁹ Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him. ¹⁰ Say among the nations that the Lord rules. The world is built to last. It will not be moved. He will be right when He says who is guilty or not.

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad. And let the earth be full of joy. Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise. ¹² Let the fields and all that is in them be full of joy. Then all the trees of the land will sing for joy ¹³ before the Lord. For He is coming. He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be faithful to the people.

⁸ “So wait for Me,” says the Lord, “for the day when I stand up to speak. I have decided to gather nations together to pour My burning anger upon them. All the earth will be destroyed by the fire of My jealous anger. ⁹ Then I will make the lips of the people pure. And all of them will call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder. ¹⁰ Those who worship Me and have been driven away will bring My gifts in worship from the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia. ¹¹ On that day you will not be put to shame because of all the works you have done against Me. For then I will take away all your people who find joy in their pride. And you will never be proud again on My holy mountain. ¹² But I will leave among you people who are not proud, and they will be safe in the name of the Lord. ¹³ The people of Israel who are left will do no wrong and tell no lies. A lying tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down with no one to make them afraid.”

⁵ Moses writes that the man who obeys the Law has to live by it. ⁶ But when a man puts his trust in Christ, he is made right with God. You do not need to ask yourself, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?” ⁷ And you do not need to ask, “Who will go below and bring Christ up from the dead?” ⁸ This is what it says, “The Good News is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” ^(A) This Good News tells about putting your trust in Christ. This is what we preach to you. ⁹ If you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment of sin. ¹⁰ When we believe in our hearts, we are made right with God. We tell with our mouth how we were saved from the punishment of sin. ¹¹ The Holy Writings say, “No one who puts his trust in Christ will ever be put to shame.” ^{(B) 12} There is no difference between the Jews and the people who are not Jews. They are all the same to the Lord. And He is Lord over all of them. He gives of His greatness to all who call on Him for help. ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin.