Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
117 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!
2 His mercy toward us is powerful.
The Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
Israel’s Glorious Future
30 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Write in a book everything that I tell you. 3 The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it.”
4 This is the message that the Lord spoke about Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the Lord says:
“We hear cries of fear, cries of panic, not cries of peace.
6 Ask now, and see: Can a man give birth to a child?
Why, then, do I see every strong man holding his stomach in pain
like a woman giving birth to a child?
Why has every face turned pale?
7 How terrible that day will be!
There will be no other day like it.
It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob,
but they will be rescued from it.
8 “On that day,” declares the Lord of Armies, “I will break the yokes [a] off your necks and tear off your ropes. Foreigners will no longer make you serve them. 9 You will serve the Lord your God and David your king. I will establish him for you.
10 “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,” declares the Lord.
“Don’t be terrified, Israel.
I’m going to rescue you from a faraway place.
I’m going to rescue your descendants from where they are captives.
The descendants of Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will frighten them.
11 I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
“I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will correct you with justice.
I won’t let you go entirely unpunished.
12 “This is what the Lord says:
Your wound is incurable.
Your injury is beyond healing.
13 No one argues that you should be healed.
No medicine will heal you.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you,
and they don’t want you anymore.
I’ve punished you as an enemy would.
I’ve corrected you as a cruel person would.
You are very wicked, and you have many sins.
15 Why do you cry about your wound, your injury that can’t be cured?
I’ve done this to you.
You are very wicked, and you have many sins.
16 That is why everyone who devours you will be devoured,
and all your enemies will be taken away as captives.
Those who looted you will be looted.
Those who stole from you in war will have things stolen from them.
17 I’ll restore your health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord.
“People call you an outcast:
Zion, no one cares for you.
5 The one sitting on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” He said, “Write this: ‘These words are faithful and true.’ ” 6 He said to me, “It has happened! I am the A and the Z,[a] the beginning and the end. I will give a drink from the fountain filled with the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. It won’t cost anything. 7 Everyone who wins the victory will inherit these things. I will be their God, and they will be my children. 8 But cowardly, unfaithful, and detestable people, murderers, sexual sinners, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
A New Jerusalem
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the last seven plagues came to me and said, “Come! I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.” 10 He carried me by his power away to a large, high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. 11 It had the glory of God. Its light was like a valuable gem, like gray quartz, as clear as crystal. 12 It had a large, high wall with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 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 wall of the city had 12 foundations. The 12 names of the 12 apostles of the lamb were written on them.
15 The angel who was talking to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was square. It was as wide as it was long. He measured the city with the stick. It was 12,000 stadia [b] long. Its length, width, and height were the same. 17 He measured its wall. According to human measurement, which the angel was using, it was 144 cubits.[c] 18 Its wall was made of gray quartz. The city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the city wall were beautifully decorated with all kinds of gems: The first foundation was gray quartz, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth red quartz, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth green quartz, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate was made of one pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.
22 I did not see any temple in it, because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. 23 The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light because the glory of God gave it light. The lamb was its lamp. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will be open all day. They will never close because there won’t be any night there. 26 They will bring the glory and wealth of the nations into the holy city. 27 Nothing unclean,[d] no one who does anything detestable, and no liars will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the lamb’s Book of Life will enter it.
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