Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name;
every day tell how he saves us.
3 Tell the nations of his glory;
tell all peoples the miracles he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised at all times.
He should be honored more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are only idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 The Lord has glory and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his Temple.
7 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Praise the glory of the Lord’s name.
Bring an offering and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 Worship the Lord because he is holy.
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord is king.”
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it shout.
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with fairness
and the peoples with truth.
A Happy Song
14 Sing, Jerusalem.
Israel, shout for joy!
Jerusalem, be happy
and rejoice with all your heart.
15 The Lord has stopped punishing you;
he has sent your enemies away.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you;
you will never again be afraid of being harmed.
16 On that day Jerusalem will be told,
“Don’t be afraid, city of Jerusalem.
Don’t give up.
17 The Lord your God is with you;
the mighty One will save you.
He will rejoice over you.
You will rest in his love;
he will sing and be joyful about you.”
18 “I will take away the sadness planned for you,
which would have made you very ashamed.
19 At that time I will punish
all those who harmed you.
I will save my people who cannot walk
and gather my people who have been thrown out.
I will give them praise and honor
in every place where they were shamed.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you back home.
I will give you honor and praise
from people everywhere
when I make things go well again for you,
as you will see with your own eyes,” says the Lord.
11 Do this because we live in an important time. It is now time for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The “night”[a] is almost finished, and the “day”[b] is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light. 13 Let us live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual sins of any kind, no fighting or jealousy. 14 But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.