Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that runs down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that goes down to the skirts of his garments;
3 as the dew of Hermon, that descends upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commands blessing and eternal life.
24 ¶ After this Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and said thus unto him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought Daniel in before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make me understand the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The mystery which the king demands cannot be shown unto the king by wise men, astrologers, magicians, nor fortune-tellers.
28 But there is a God in the heavens who reveals the mysteries, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall happen at the end of days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, is this:
29 Thou, O king, in thy bed, thy thoughts rose up to know what should come to pass in the future; and he that reveals the mysteries showed thee what shall come to pass.
30 And unto me this mystery has been revealed, not for any wisdom that is in me more than in all those living but that I notify the interpretation to the king and that thou might understand the thoughts of thy heart.
31 ¶ Thou, O king, didst see and behold a great image. This image, which was very large and whose glory was very sublime, stood before thee, and its form was terrible.
32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of baked clay.
34 Thou didst see until a stone was cut out, not with hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and baked clay and broke them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the baked clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them again; and the stone that smote the image was made into a great mountain that filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, for the God of heaven has given thee the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the majesty.
38 And everything that is inhabited by children of men, beasts of the field, and fowls of the heaven, he has given into thine hand, and has made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the land.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; and as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things, and as iron that breaks all these things, it shall break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou didst see the feet and toes, part of baked potters’ clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divisive; but there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, such as thou didst see the iron mixed with baked clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of baked clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly fragile.
43 Concerning that which thou didst see, the iron mixed with baked clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which eternally shall never become corrupted, and this kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 In the manner which thou didst see that out of the mountain was cut one stone, not with hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has shown the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is true, and its interpretation sure.
46 ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and humbled himself before Daniel and commanded that they should sacrifice presents and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel and said, Certainly the God that is your God is God of gods and the Lord of the kings and the revealer of the mysteries, seeing thou could reveal this mystery.
48 Then the king magnified Daniel and gave him many and great gifts and made him governor over the whole province of Babylon and prince of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was at the gate of the king.
44 ¶ But Jesus cried and said, He that believes in me, believes not in me, but in him that sent me,
45 and he that sees me sees him that sent me.
46 I am come as a light into the world that whosoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.
47 And if anyone hears my words and believes not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world.
48 He that rejects me and does not receive my words has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life; whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
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