Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
Encouragement and Promise
2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month,(A) the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people: 3 Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you?[a](B) 4 Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel”—this is the Lord’s declaration.(C) “Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Work! For I am with you”(D)—the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. 5 “This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt,(E) and My Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.”
6 For the Lord of Hosts says this: “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth,(F) the sea and the dry land.(G) 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,”(H) says the Lord of Hosts. 8 “The silver and gold belong to Me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. 9 “The final glory of this house[b] will be greater than the first,”(I) says the Lord of Hosts. “I will provide peace in this place”(J)—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.(A)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.(B)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them.(C)
20 The Lord guards all those who love Him,
but He destroys all the wicked.(D)
21 My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise;
let every living thing
praise His holy name forever and ever.(E)
Psalm 98
Praise the King
A psalm.
1 Sing a new song to the Lord,(A)
for He has performed wonders;
His right hand and holy arm
have won Him victory.(B)
2 The Lord has made His victory known;
He has revealed His righteousness
in the sight of the nations.(C)
3 He has remembered His love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen our God’s victory.(D)
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Now concerning the coming(A) of our Lord(B) Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit(C) or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord[a](D) has come.(E) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy[b] comes first and the man of lawlessness[c] is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god(F) or object of worship,(G) so that he sits[d] in God’s sanctuary,[e] publicizing that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this?
Stand Firm
13 But we must always thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning[a] God has chosen(A) you for salvation through sanctification(B) by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory(C) of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm(D) and hold to the traditions you were taught,(E) either by our message or by our letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved(F) us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
The Sadducees and the Resurrection
27 Some(A) of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,(B) came up and questioned Him: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.(C)[a] 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the second[b] 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”[c]
34 Jesus told them, “The sons of this age(D) marry and are given in marriage.(E) 35 But those who are counted worthy(F) to take part in that age(G) and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot die anymore,(H) because they are like angels and are sons of God,(I) since they are sons of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.(J)[d] 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to[e] Him.”(K)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.