Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Praise to the Lord God of Israel.
He has come to help his people
and has given them freedom.
69 He has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of his servant David.
70 This is what he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 He will save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 God said he would show mercy to our fathers,
and he remembered his holy agreement.
73 This was the promise he made to our father Abraham,
74 a promise to free us from the power of our enemies,
so that we could serve him without fear
75 in a way that is holy and right for as long as we live.
76 “Now you, little boy, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go first before the Lord to prepare the way for him.
77 You will make his people understand that they will be saved
by having their sins forgiven.
78 “With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day[a] from heaven will shine on us.
79 It will bring light to those who live in darkness, in the fear of death.
It will guide us into the way that brings peace.”
5 Then I will bring you to justice. I will be an expert witness and testify about the evil things people do. I will speak out against those who do evil magic or commit adultery. I will speak out against those who make false promises and cheat their workers and don’t pay them the money they promised. I will testify against those who don’t help strangers, or widows and orphans. And I will testify against those who don’t respect me.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
Stealing From God
6 “I am the Lord, and I don’t change. You are Jacob’s children, and you have not been completely destroyed. 7 But you never obeyed my laws. Even your ancestors stopped following me. Come back to me, and I will come back to you.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
“You say, ‘How can we come back?’
8 “People should not steal things from God, but you stole things from me.
“You say, ‘What did we steal from you?’
“You should have given me one-tenth of your things. You should have given me special gifts. 9 In this way your whole nation has stolen things from me, so bad things are happening to you.”
10 The Lord All-Powerful says, “Try this test. Bring one-tenth of your things to me. Put them in the treasury. Bring food to my house. Test me! If you do these things, I will surely bless you. Good things will come to you like rain falling from the sky. You will have more than enough of everything. 11 I will not let pests destroy your crops. All your grapevines will produce grapes.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
12 “People from other nations will be good to you. You will have a wonderful country.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
Paul’s Troubles Help the Lord’s Work
12 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that all that has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. 13 All the Roman guards and all the others here know that I am in prison for serving Christ. 14 My being in prison has caused most of the believers to put their trust in the Lord and to show more courage in telling people God’s message.
15 Some people are telling the message about Christ because they are jealous and bitter. Others do it because they want to help. 16 They are doing it out of love. They know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. 17 But those others tell about Christ because of their selfish ambition. Their reason for doing it is wrong. They only do it because they think it will make trouble for me in prison. 18 But that doesn’t matter. What is important is that they are telling people about Christ, whether they are sincere or not. So I am glad they are doing it.
I will continue to be glad,
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International