Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song by David for going up to worship.

¹¹ The world was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence. ¹² God saw the world and how corrupt it was because all people on earth lived evil lives.

¹³ God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all people because the earth is full of their violence. Now I’m going to destroy them along with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself a ship of cypress wood. ^[a] Make rooms in the ship and coat it inside and out with tar. ¹⁵ This is how you should build it: the ship is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ¹⁶ Make a roof for the ship, and leave an 18-inch-high opening at the top. Put a door in the side of the ship. Build the ship with lower, middle, and upper decks. ¹⁷ I’m about to send a flood on the earth to destroy all people under the sky—every living, breathing human. Everything on earth will die.

¹⁸ “But I will make my promise ^[b] to you. You, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives will go into the ship. ¹⁹ Bring two of every living creature into the ship in order to keep them alive with you. They must be male and female. ²⁰ Two of every type of bird, every type of domestic animal, and every type of creature that crawls on the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ Take every kind of food that can be eaten and store it. It will be food for you and the animals.”

²² Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

Jesus Teaches His Disciples on the Mount of Olives^(A)

24 As Jesus left the temple courtyard and was walking away, his disciples came to him. They proudly pointed out to him the temple buildings. ² Jesus said to them, “You see all these buildings, don’t you? I can guarantee this truth: Not one of these stones will be left on top of another. Each one will be torn down.”

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the sign that you are coming again, and when will the world come to an end?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “Be careful not to let anyone deceive you. ⁵ Many will come using my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many people.

⁶ “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come. ⁷ Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All of these are only the beginning pains ⌞of the end⌟.

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to those who will torture and kill you. All nations will hate you because you are committed to me. ¹⁰ Then many will lose faith. They will betray and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² And because there will be more and more lawlessness, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the person who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “This Good News about the kingdom will be spread throughout the world as a testimony to all nations. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “The prophet Daniel said that the disgusting thing that will cause destruction will stand in the holy place. When you see this (let the reader take note), ¹⁶ those of you in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Those who are on the roof should not come down to get anything out of their houses. ¹⁸ Those who are in the field should not turn back to get their coats.

¹⁹ “How horrible it will be for the women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days. ²⁰ Pray that it will not be winter or a day of rest—a holy day, when you flee. ²¹ There will be a lot of misery at that time, a kind of misery that has not happened from the beginning of the world until now and will certainly never happen again. ²² If God does not reduce the number of those days, no one will be saved. But those days will be reduced because of those whom God has chosen.