Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God takes care of his people[a]
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His faithful love for his people continues for ever.
2 Everyone that the Lord has rescued
should tell others.
Tell them how he has rescued you
from the enemy's power.
3 He brought his people from foreign countries.
He brought them together from the east and the west,
from the north, and from the south.[b]
17 Some people became fools
and they turned against God.
They had trouble and pain
because of their sins.
18 They did not want to eat any food,
so they nearly died.
19 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
20 He sent his word to them
and he made them well again.
He rescued them from the deep hole of death.
21 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
22 They should offer sacrifices to thank God.
They should sing aloud
to tell about what he has done.
5 After the angel said this, I, Daniel, looked up. I saw two other people. One of them stood on the same side of the river as me. The other one stood on the other side of the river. 6 One of them spoke to the man who wore linen clothes and who now stood above the river. He asked that man, ‘How long will it be until these wonderful things finish?’ 7 The man who wore linen clothes lifted up both his hands towards the sky. I heard him make a strong promise with the authority of God, who lives for ever. He said, ‘It will continue for three and a half times.[a] Then the enemies of God's holy people will finally lose their power. That will be the end of all these events.’
8 I heard the man's words, but I did not understand. So I said, ‘Sir, how will all these things finally finish?’ 9 He said to me, ‘You must go now, Daniel. This message will remain secret until it is time for the end of this world. The seals will keep the book closed. 10 The time of trouble will cause many people to become clean and pure. But wicked people will continue to do evil things. No wicked people will understand what God is doing. But wise people will understand.
11 People will suffer for 1,290 days during that time of trouble. It will start from the time when people can no longer offer their sacrifices each day in the temple. That is when the enemy will put a disgusting thing that causes trouble in the holy place.[b] 12 But God will bless all those people who remain faithful until the 1,335 days come to an end.
13 You yourself must serve God faithfully until the end of your life. You will die. But at the end of time you will rise to live again. Then you will receive the good things that God has prepared for you.’
7 When Christ died as a sacrifice on the cross, he paid the price to make us free. Because of Christ's death on our behalf, God has forgiven our sins. God is so very kind that he has done all this for us!
8 Even more than that, God has shown how wise he is. He understands what we need. 9 He has let us know his great purpose, which had been a secret before. That plan would make him very happy. It would be possible because of Christ. 10 God will make that plan happen when the time is completely right. At that time, he will bring everything together so that Christ rules all of them. That includes the things that are in heaven, and the things that are on earth.
11 God is able to make all things happen just like he decides. He chose us to be his own people, because we are united with Christ. In the beginning, God had already decided that this was his purpose. 12 We were the first people to trust in Christ, God's special Messiah.[a] God wanted us to show how great he is. He wanted people to praise him because of us. 13 You believers in Ephesus also heard God's true message. You heard the good news about how God saves you. When you believed in Christ, God gave his Holy Spirit to you. He had promised to do that, to show that you belong to him. 14 God has put his Holy Spirit inside us now. As a result, we know that one day we will receive all the good things that God has promised. At that time we will be completely free, because we belong to God. So we praise God and we say that he is great!
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