Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
12 On that day you will say, “Praise the Lord! He was angry with me, but now he comforts me. 2 See, God has come to save me! I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and song; he is my salvation. 3 Oh, the joy of drinking deeply from the Fountain of Salvation!”
4 In that wonderful day you will say, “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the world about his wondrous love.[a] How mighty he is!” 5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world. 6 Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy. For great and mighty is the Holy One of Israel, who lives among you.
15 Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who tries a better life is soon attacked. The Lord saw all the evil and was displeased to find no steps taken against sin. 16 He saw no one was helping you and wondered that no one intervened. Therefore he himself stepped in to save you through his mighty power and justice. 17 He put on righteousness as armor and the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with robes of vengeance and of godly fury. 18 He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds—fury for his foes in distant lands. 19 Then at last they will reverence and glorify the name of God from west to east. For he will come like a flood tide driven by Jehovah’s breath. 20 He will come as a Redeemer to those in Zion who have turned away from sin.
21 “As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord: “My Holy Spirit shall not leave them, and they shall want the good and hate the wrong—they and their children and their children’s children forever.”
20 One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God begin?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God isn’t ushered in with visible signs. 21 You won’t be able to say, ‘It has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country.’ For the Kingdom of God is within you.”[a]
22 Later he talked again about this with his disciples. “The time is coming when you will long for me[b] to be with you even for a single day, but I won’t be here,” he said. 23 “Reports will reach you that I have returned and that I am in this place or that; don’t believe it or go out to look for me. 24 For when I return, you will know it beyond all doubt. It will be as evident as the lightning that flashes across the skies. 25 But first I must suffer terribly and be rejected by this whole nation.
26 “When I return[c] the world will be as indifferent to the things of God as the people were in Noah’s day. 27 They ate and drank and married—everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the hour of my return.[d]
31 “Those away from home that day must not return to pack; those in the fields must not return to town— 32 remember what happened to Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it. 34 That night two men will be asleep in the same room, and one will be taken away, the other left. 35-36 Two women will be working together at household tasks; one will be taken, the other left; and so it will be with men working side by side in the fields.”
37 “Lord, where will they be taken?” the disciples asked.
Jesus replied, “Where the body is, the vultures gather!”[e]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.