Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Ascents

The Exiles Restored

¹⁸ At that time,^[a] there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.^[b]

¹⁹ At that time,^[c] there will be an altar to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies^[d] in the heart of the land of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord^[e] at its border. ²⁰ It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior, and he will come down^[f] and rescue them. ²¹ So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will acknowledge the Lord.

At that time,^[g] they will worship^[h] with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and carry them out. ²² The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, striking but then healing. Then they will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

²³ At that time,^[i] there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and they^[j] will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴ At that time,^[k] Israel will be in a triple alliance^[l] with Egypt and Assyria; they will be^[m] a blessing in the midst of the earth. ²⁵ The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

² May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

We are Called to Holy Living

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. ⁴ Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, you must make every effort to supplement your faith with moral character, your moral character with knowledge, ⁶ your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with endurance, your endurance with godliness, ⁷ your godliness with brotherly kindness, and your brotherly kindness with love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.^{[a] 9} For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.

¹⁰ So then, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election certain, for if you keep on doing this you will never fail. ¹¹ For in this way you will be generously granted entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah.^[b]

¹² Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have. ¹³ Yet I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I am living in this bodily tent, ¹⁴ because I know that the removal of my bodily tent will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[c] has shown me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to see that you will always remember these things after I am gone.