Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
(A)A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
God’s People Are Comforted(A)
40 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak [a]comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
(B)For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 (C)The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(D)“Prepare the way of the Lord;
(E)Make straight [b]in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
(F)The crooked places shall be made [c]straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The (G)glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And [d]he said, “What shall I cry?”
(H)“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But (I)the word of our God stands forever.”
9 O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come [e]with a strong hand,
And (J)His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, (K)His reward is with Him,
And His [f]work before Him.
11 He will (L)feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
The River of Life
22 And he showed me (A)a [a]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 (B)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was (C)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were (D)for the healing of the nations. 3 And (E)there shall be no more curse, (F)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His (G)servants shall serve Him. 4 (H)They shall see His face, and (I)His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 (J)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor (K)light of the sun, for (L)the Lord God gives them light. (M)And they shall reign forever and ever.
The Time Is Near
6 Then he said to me, (N)“These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the [b]holy prophets (O)sent His angel to show His servants the things which must (P)shortly take place.
7 (Q)“Behold, I am coming quickly! (R)Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 Now I, John, [c]saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, (S)I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 Then he said to me, (T)“See that you do not do that. [d]For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.