Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

63 O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is,

² to see Thy power and Thy glory as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.

³ Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.

⁴ Thus will I bless Thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in Thy name.

⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips,

⁶ when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.

⁷ Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.

⁸ My soul followeth hard after Thee; Thy right hand upholdeth me.

¹⁹ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

²⁰ And he commanded the most mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their breeches, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²² Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke, and said unto his counselors, “Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said unto the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵ He answered and said, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth from the midst of the fire.

²⁷ And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed nor had the smell of fire passed onto them.

²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not servenor worship any god except their own God.

²⁹ Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God who can deliver in this way.”

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

⁸ “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘These things saith the First and the Last, who was dead and is alive:

⁹ I know thy works and tribulation and poverty (but thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰ Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of Life.

¹¹ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death.’