Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 87
Zion, the City of God
A psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.
1 The city he founded[a] is on the holy mountains.(A)
2 The Lord loves Zion’s city gates
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.(B)
3 Glorious things are said about you,
city of God.(C)Selah
4 “I will make a record of those who know me:
Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush—
each one was born there.”(D)
5 And it will be said of Zion,
“This one and that one were born in her.”
The Most High himself will establish her.(E)
6 When he registers the peoples,
the Lord will record,
“This one was born there.”(F)Selah
7 Singers and dancers[b] alike will say,[c]
“My whole source of joy is[d] in you.”(G)
Judgment of the Nations
3 Yes, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,(A)
2 I will gather all the nations(B)
and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.[a](C)
I will enter into judgment with them there(D)
because of my people, my inheritance Israel.
The nations have scattered the Israelites
in foreign countries(E)
and divided up my land.(F)
3 They cast lots for my people;(G)
they bartered a boy for a prostitute
and sold a girl for wine to drink.(H)
4 And also: Tyre,(I) Sidon, and all the territories of Philistia(J)—what are you to me? Are you paying me back or trying to get even with me? I will quickly bring retribution on your heads.(K) 5 For you took my silver and gold and carried my finest treasures(L) to your temples. 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks(M) to remove them far from their own territory. 7 Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them;(N) I will bring retribution on your heads. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah,(O) and they will sell them to the Sabeans,[b](P) to a distant nation, for the Lord has spoken.
Christian Suffering
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you.(A) 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ,(B) so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.(C) 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ,(D) you are blessed, because the Spirit(E) of glory and of God[a] rests on you. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.[b] 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.[c] 17 For the time has come for judgment(F) to begin with God’s household,(G) and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?[d](H)
19 So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves(I) to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.
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