Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God takes care of his people[a]
105 Thank the Lord!
Make his name famous!
Tell people in all the nations
what he has done.
2 Sing songs and make music
to praise him!
Tell people about the miracles that he has done.
3 Boast about his holy name.[b]
Everybody who wants to worship the Lord
should be very happy!
4 Ask the Lord to help you.
Ask him to give you strength.
Always try to be near him
and worship him.
5 Remember the great things that he has done.
Remember his miracles,
and the commands that he has spoken.[c]
6 Remember that you are descendants of God's servant, Abraham.
You are Jacob's descendants,
and God has chosen you to be his people.
7 He is the Lord, our God.
He rules the whole earth with justice.
8 He will always remember the covenant
that he made with us.
He made that promise to continue for ever.
9 That is the promise that he made to Abraham,
and that he also made to Isaac.
10 He repeated it to Jacob as a law.
It was a covenant with Israel's people
that would continue for ever.[d]
11 He promised Jacob,
‘I will give to you the land of Canaan.
It will belong to you,
and to your descendants.’
12 At one time, God's people were only a few.
They lived in Canaan as strangers.
13 They travelled among different nations
and different kingdoms.
14 But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them.
He punished kings to keep his people safe.
15 He said, ‘Do not even touch the people that I have chosen to be mine.
Do not hurt my prophets.’
16 The Lord sent a famine to the land of Canaan,
so that his people had no food left to eat.
17 But he sent Joseph to Egypt
before they went there to get food.[a]
Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave.
18 In Egypt the chains on his feet hurt him.
He had a heavy piece of iron round his neck.
19 He remained a slave
until what he said would happen really happened.
Then the Lord showed that Joseph was right.
20 The powerful king of Egypt sent someone
to let Joseph go free out of prison.
21 The king made Joseph master of his palace.
Joseph took care of everything that belonged to the king.
22 The king gave him authority over his officers.
He could teach the king's leaders,
so that they would know what to do.
23 Then Jacob's family came into Egypt.
They lived as strangers in the land of Ham's descendants.[b]
24 The Lord gave to his people many children.
They became more powerful than their enemies.
25 So the Egyptians began to hate God's people.
They did cruel things to the Lord's people.
26 The Lord sent his servant Moses
to help his people in Egypt.
He also chose Aaron to help them.
27 Moses and Aaron did many miracles in Egypt,
where Ham's descendants lived.
They showed the Lord's great power to the Egyptians.
28 God made all the land become dark.
But the Egyptians did not obey God's command.
29 God caused their rivers to become blood,
and he killed their fish.
30 Frogs covered all their land.
They even went into the bedrooms of the palace!
31 The Lord commanded flies and gnats
to cover the whole country.
32 He sent hail with the rain,
and there was lightning everywhere.
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees.
He knocked down the trees everywhere in their country.
34 He commanded many locusts to come.
There were too many locusts to count!
35 They ate all the plants in their land,
and all the crops in their fields.
36 Then the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt.
He killed the oldest son in each family.
37 So the Lord led his people out from Egypt.
They took with them valuable silver and gold things.
Nobody among the Israelite people was too weak to go.
38 The Egyptians were happy when they went,
because they were afraid of the Israelites.[c]
39 The Lord made a cloud to cover them
and a fire to give them light at night.
40 When they asked him for food,
he gave them quails to eat.
He fed them with bread from the sky.
41 He broke a rock,
so that water poured out from it.
It ran as a river through the dry places.
42 Yes, the Lord remembered the holy promise
that he had made to his servant, Abraham.
Jehoshaphat fights against Moab and Ammon
20 After that, armies from Moab and Ammon, as well as some Meunites, attacked Jehoshaphat.[a]
2 Some men brought this news to Jehoshaphat: ‘A large army is coming from the other side of the Dead Sea to attack you. They came from Edom and they are already in Hazezon Tamar.’ (That is another name for En Gedi.)
3 Jehoshaphat was afraid. So he decided to ask the Lord what he should do. He commanded all the people in Judah that they must fast. 4 Judah's people came together to ask the Lord for his help. They came from every town in Judah to pray to the Lord.
Jehoshaphat's prayer
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in front of the people of Jerusalem and the other places in Judah. He was standing in front of the new yard of the Lord's temple. 6 He prayed, ‘Lord, you are the God of our ancestors. You are the God who is in heaven and you rule over all kingdoms and nations. You are strong and powerful. Nobody can fight against you and win. 7 Our God, you chased out the people who were living in this land, so that your people, the Israelites, could move in. You have given this land to the descendants of your friend Abraham. It belongs to them for ever. 8 Your people made their homes here and they built a temple to give honour to your name. When they built it, they said, 9 “In the future, we may have trouble. There might be war, disease, famine or some other punishment. If that happens, we will come to you and we will stand in front of this temple. You have chosen this place to be your home. We will call out to you to help us when we are in trouble. Then you will hear us and you will rescue us.”
10 But now soldiers from Ammon, Moab and Edom are coming to attack us. When the Israelites were escaping from Egypt, you would not allow them to attack those lands. So our people turned away and they did not destroy those people. 11 But now those people want to destroy us! They are coming to chase us out of the land that you gave to us as our home. 12 So, our God, please punish these people! We are not strong enough to fight against this large army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do. But we are asking you to help us.’
The Lord speaks to Jahaziel
13 As King Jehoshaphat prayed, all the men of Judah were standing there at the temple. They had their babies, their wives and their children with them.
14 Then the Lord's Spirit came with power to Jahaziel as he stood among the people. Jahaziel was a Levite, a descendant of Asaph. He was the son of Zechariah, who was the son of Benaiah, who was the son of Jeiel, who was the son of Mattaniah.
15 Jahaziel said, ‘Listen to me all you people of Judah. That includes you people who live in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat too. The Lord says to you, “Do not be afraid because this large army is coming to attack you. You must be brave! This is God's battle, not your battle. 16 Tomorrow, you must march out of here to attack them. They will be coming up the road through the hills at Ziz. You will meet them at the end of the narrow valley that is on the east side of the Jeruel desert. 17 You will not have to fight in this battle. Go to your places and stand still. Then you will see the Lord rescue you. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid. Be brave! Tomorrow you must march out of here towards the enemy army. The Lord is with you!” ’
18 Then Jehoshaphat bent down with his face towards the ground. All the people of Judah and the people who lived in Jerusalem also bent down to worship the Lord. 19 Then some Levites stood up. They praised the Lord, Israel's God, with loud voices. They belonged to the clans of Kohath and Korah.
The Lord fights against Judah's enemies
20 Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat prepared to leave with his army. They started to march to the Tekoa desert. When they were ready to leave, Jehoshaphat stood up and he said, ‘Listen to me, people of Judah and people who live in Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God. Then you will be safe. Believe the message that his prophets have spoken. Then you will win the battle.’
21 Jehoshaphat spoke with the people. He chose some musicians to march in front of his army. They sang songs to worship the Lord and to praise him for his holy power. As they marched, they sang, ‘We thank the Lord! His faithful love continues for ever!’
22 As the musicians began to sing, the Lord suddenly made the soldiers of Judah's enemies confused.
A story about a narrow door
22 Jesus was continuing his journey towards Jerusalem. On the way, he went through towns and villages. In each one, he taught the people. 23 One day, somebody asked him, ‘Sir, will God only save a small number of people?’
24 Jesus said to the people there, ‘Do your best to go in through the narrow door. I tell you that many people will want to get in there. But they will not be able to go through it. 25 Soon the master of the house will get up and he will shut the door. And then you may still be standing outside the door. You will knock and you will say, “Master, please open the door for us to come in.”
But the master will reply, “I do not know you. I do not know where you come from.” 26 Then you will begin to say, “But Master, we had meals with you. You taught us in the streets of our villages.”
27 But he will tell you, “No! I really do not know you. I do not know where you come from. You have done very bad things, so go away from me, all of you!”
28 Then you will weep very much because you are standing outside. You will bite your teeth together.[a] You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the place where God rules. You will also see all God's prophets there. But God will shut you outside. 29 At that time, people will come from everywhere in the world, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They will all come to take their place in the kingdom of God. There they will sit down together to eat a great meal. 30 Listen! At that time, some people that are not important now will become the most important. And some people that are now the most important will not be important then.’
31 At that moment, some Pharisees came to Jesus. ‘Go away from here,’ they said to him. ‘Go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.’
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