Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
25
My praise will be of You in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows [made in the time of trouble] before those who [reverently] fear Him.
26
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who [diligently] seek Him and require Him [as their greatest need] will praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
27
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will bow down and worship before You,
28
For the kingship and the kingdom are the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30
Posterity will serve Him;
They will tell of the Lord to the next generation.
31
They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people yet to be born—that He has done it [and that it is finished].(A)
7
“Are you [degenerate ones] not as the [despised] sons of Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans (Syrians) from Kir?
8
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]
And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;
But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”
Says the Lord.
9
“For behold, I am commanding,
And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble]
Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff],
But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight].(A)
10
“All the sinners among My people will die by the sword,
Those who say [defiantly], ‘The disaster will not overtake or confront us.’
The Restoration of Israel
11
“In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen [a]tabernacle (booth) of David,
And wall up its breaches [in the city walls];
I will also raise up and restore its ruins
And rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
12
That they may possess the remnant of Edom (ancient enemies)
And all the nations that are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this.(B)
13
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,
And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].(C)
14
“Also I shall bring back the exiles of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the deserted and ruined cities and inhabit them:
They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15
“I will also plant them on their land,
And they shall never again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And He said, “How shall we [a]picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?(A) 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is [b]smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade.”(B)
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