Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not keep silence;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And it is very (G)tempestuous around Him.
4 He (H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My (I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
Ahijah Prophesies against the King
14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise now, and (A)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to (B)Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who (C)spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. 3 (D)Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to (E)Shiloh, and came to the house of (F)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, (G)for his eyes were [a]dim because of his age. 5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to [b]inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that (H)she will pretend to be another woman.”
6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message. 7 Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “(I)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, 8 and (J)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—(K)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, (L)to do only that which was right in My sight; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and (M)have gone and made for yourself other gods and (N)molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have (O)cast Me behind your back— 10 therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and (P)will cut off from Jeroboam [c]every male person, (Q)both bond and free in Israel, and I (R)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 11 (S)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ 12 Now you, arise, go to your house. (T)When your feet enter the city the child will die. 13 All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for [d]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him (U)something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover, (V)the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day [e]and from now on.
15 “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and (W)He will uproot Israel from (X)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and (Y)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, (Z)because they have made their [f]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 He will give up Israel (AA)on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he [g]committed and with which he made Israel to sin.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to (AB)Tirzah. (AC)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 (AD)All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
12 I thank (A)Christ Jesus our Lord, who has (B)strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, (C)putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a (D)persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was (E)shown mercy because (F)I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the (G)grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the (H)faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15 (I)It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that (J)Christ Jesus came into the world to (K)save sinners, among whom (L)I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I (M)found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might (N)demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those [a]who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the (O)King [b]eternal, (P)immortal, (Q)invisible, the (R)only God, (S)be honor and glory [c]forever and ever. Amen.
18 This (T)command I entrust to you, Timothy, (U)my [d]son, in accordance with the (V)prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you (W)fight the good fight, 19 keeping (X)faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to [e](Y)their faith. 20 [f]Among these are (Z)Hymenaeus and (AA)Alexander, whom I have (AB)handed over to Satan, so that they will be (AC)taught not to blaspheme.
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