Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God in the Thunderstorm
A song of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels.
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord because he is holy.
3 The Lord’s voice is heard over the sea.
The glorious God thunders.
The Lord thunders over the great ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful.
The Lord’s voice is majestic.
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the trees.
The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf.
He makes Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice makes the lightning flash.
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the desert.
The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice shakes the oaks.
The leaves fall off the trees.
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory to God!”
10 The Lord controls the flood.
The Lord will be King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
15 So the common people and the great people will be humbled.
Those who are proud will be humbled.
16 The Lord of heaven’s armies will receive glory by judging fairly.
The holy God will show himself holy by doing what is right.
17 Then the sheep will go anywhere they want.
Lambs will feed on the land that rich people once owned.
18 How terrible it will be for those people!
They pull their guilt and sins behind them
as people pull wagons with ropes.
19 They say, “Let’s see God hurry.
Let’s see him do his work soon.
We want to see it.
Let’s see the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen soon.
Then we would know what it really is.”
20 How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad
and bad things good.
They think darkness is light
and light is darkness.
They think sour is sweet
and sweet is sour.
21 How terrible it will be for people who think they are wise.
They think they are clever.
22 How terrible it will be for people who are famous for drinking wine.
They are champions at mixing drinks.
23 They take money to set the guilty free.
But they don’t allow good people to be judged fairly.
24 They will be destroyed
just as fire burns straw or dry grass.
They will be destroyed
like a plant whose roots rot
and whose flower dies and blows away like dust.
They have refused to obey the teachings of the Lord of heaven’s armies.
They hated the message from the Holy God of Israel.
Jesus Warns His Followers
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, then it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too.
26 “I will send you the Helper[a] from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. 27 And you also must tell people about me because you have been with me from the beginning.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.