); Genesis 22:15-18 (God’s blessing promised again); 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 (How to love one another) (Good News Translation)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Supreme Ruler[a]
47 Clap your hands for joy, all peoples!
Praise God with loud songs!
2 The Lord, the Most High, is to be feared;
he is a great king, ruling over all the world.
3 He gave us victory over the peoples;
he made us rule over the nations.
4 He chose for us the land where we live,
the proud possession of his people, whom he loves.
5 God goes up to his throne.
There are shouts of joy and the blast of trumpets,
as the Lord goes up.
6 Sing praise to God;
sing praise to our king!
7 God is king over all the world;
praise him with songs!
8 God sits on his sacred throne;
he rules over the nations.
9 The rulers of the nations assemble
with the people[b] of the God of Abraham.
More powerful than all armies is he;
he rules supreme.
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, 16 (A)“I make a vow by my own name—the Lord is speaking—that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, 17 (B)I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. 18 (C)All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants—all because you obeyed my command.”
9 There is no need to write you about love for each other. You yourselves have been taught by God how you should love one another. 10 And you have, in fact, behaved like this toward all the believers in all of Macedonia. So we beg you, our friends, to do even more. 11 Make it your aim to live a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to earn your own living, just as we told you before. 12 In this way you will win the respect of those who are not believers, and you will not have to depend on anyone for what you need.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.