Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 117
117 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Worship him, all you peoples!
2 Because God’s faithful love toward us is strong,
the Lord’s faithfulness lasts forever!
Praise the Lord!
THE SCROLL OF COMFORT
Healing and restoration for my people
30 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: 2 The Lord, the God of Israel, proclaims: Write down in a scroll all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring back my people Israel and Judah from captivity,[a] says the Lord. I will bring them home to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it. 4 Here are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
5 The Lord proclaims:
I[b] hear screams of panic and terror;
no one is safe.
6 Ask and see:
Can men bear children?
Then why do I see every man
bent over in pain,[c] as if he’s in labor?
Why have all turned pale?
7 That day is awful, beyond words.
A time of unspeakable pain
for my people Jacob.
But they will be delivered from it.
8 At that time, I will break the yoke off their[d] necks and remove their[e] shackles. Foreigners will no longer enslave them, declares the Lord of heavenly forces. 9 They will serve the Lord their God and the king whom I will raise up for them from David’s family.
10 So don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
declares the Lord,
Don’t lose hope, Israel.
I will deliver you from faraway places
and your children from the land of their exile.
My people Jacob will again be safe and sound,
with no one harassing them.
11 I am with you and will rescue you,
declares the Lord.
I will put an end to all the nations
where I have scattered you.
But I won’t put an end to you.
I won’t let you remain unpunished:
I will discipline you as you deserve.
12 This is what the Lord says:
Your injury is incurable;
your illness is grave.
13 No one comes to your aid;
no one attends to your wound;
your disease is incurable.
14 All your lovers disregard you;
they write you off as a lost cause,
because I have dealt harshly with you
as an enemy would,
because your guilt is great
and your sins are many.
15 Why cry out for relief from your pain?
Your wound is incurable.
I have done these things to you,
because your guilt is great
and your sins are many.
16 Yet all who ravage you will be ravaged;
all who oppress you will go into exile.
Those who rob you will be robbed,
and all who plunder you will be plundered.
17 I will restore your health,
and I will heal your wounds,
declares the Lord,
because you were labeled an outcast,
“Zion, the lost cause.”
5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look! I’m making all things new.” He also said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life-giving spring. 7 Those who emerge victorious will inherit these things. I will be their God, and they will be my sons and daughters. 8 But for the cowardly, the faithless, the vile, the murderers, those who commit sexual immorality, those who use drugs and cast spells, the idolaters and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
New Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues spoke with me. “Come,” he said, “I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10 He took me in a Spirit-inspired trance to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 The city had God’s glory. Its brilliance was like a priceless jewel, like jasper that was as clear as crystal. 12 It had a great high wall with twelve gates. By the gates were twelve angels, and on the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The city wall had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles.
15 The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring rod with which to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 Now the city was laid out as a square. Its length was the same as its width. He measured the city with the rod, and it was fifteen hundred miles.[a] Its length and width and height were equal. 17 He also measured the thickness of its wall. It was two hundred sixteen feet[b] thick, as a person—or rather, an angel—measures things. 18 The wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The city wall’s foundations were decorated with every kind of jewel. The first foundation was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, and the fourth was emerald. 20 The fifth was sardonyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, and the eighth was beryl. The ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was made from a single pearl. And the city’s main street was pure gold, as transparent as glass.
22 I didn’t see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. 23 The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is vile and deceitful, but only those who are registered in the Lamb’s scroll of life.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible