Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 80

For the choir director; according to shoshannim eduth; by Asaph; a psalm.

The Lord Will Fight the Nations

14 A day is going to come for Yahweh when the loot you have taken will be divided among you. ² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people in the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.

³ Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations as he does when he fights a battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. ⁵ Then you will flee to the valley of my mountains, because this valley between the mountains will go as far as Azel.^[a] You will flee as you did from the earthquake at the time of King Uzziah of Judah. Yahweh my Elohim will come, and all the holy ones will be with him.

⁶ On that day there will be neither heat nor freezing cold.^{[b] 7} There will be one day—a day known to Yahweh—with no difference between day and night. It will be light even in the evening.

Living Water from Jerusalem

⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.

⁹ Yahweh will be Melek over all the earth. On that day Yahweh will be the only Lord and his name the only name.

Instructions on the Way Christians Should Live

4 Now then, brothers and sisters, because of the Lord Yeshua we ask and encourage you to excel in living a God-pleasing life even more than you already do. Do this the way we taught you. ² You know what orders we gave you through the Lord Yeshua. ³ It is God’s will that you keep away from sexual sin as a mark of your devotion to him. ⁴ Each of you should know that finding a husband or wife for yourself is to be done in a holy and honorable way, ⁵ not in the passionate, lustful way of people who don’t know God. ⁶ No one should take advantage of or exploit other believers that way. The Lord is the one who punishes people for all these things. We’ve already told you and warned you about this. ⁷ God didn’t call us to be sexually immoral but to be holy. ⁸ Therefore, whoever rejects this order is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

⁹ You don’t need anyone to write to you about the way Christians should love each other. God has taught you to love each other. ¹⁰ In fact, you are showing love to all the Christians throughout the province of Macedonia. We encourage you as believers to excel in love even more. ¹¹ Also, make it your goal to live quietly, do your work, and earn your own living, as we ordered you. ¹² Then your way of life will win respect from those outside the church, and you won’t have to depend on anyone else for what you need.

Comfort about Christians Who Have Died

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be ignorant about those who have died. We don’t want you to grieve like other people who have no hope. ¹⁴ We believe that Yeshua died and came back to life. We also believe that, through Yeshua, God will bring back those who have died. They will come back with Yeshua. ¹⁵ We are telling you what the Lord taught. We who are still alive when the Lord comes will not go into his kingdom ahead of those who have already died. ¹⁶ The Lord will come from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the dead who believed in Christ will come back to life. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ So then, comfort each other with these words!