Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Joyful Restoration of Zion
Psalm 126
1 A Song of Ascents.
When Adonai restored the captives of Zion,
it was as if we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with a song of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“Adonai has done great things for them.”
3 Adonai has done great things for us
—we are joyful!
4 Restore us from captivity, Adonai,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with a song of joy.
6 Whoever keeps going out weeping,
carrying his bag of seed,
will surely come back with a song of joy,
carrying his sheaves.
You Are My Witnesses
8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears.
9 All the nations are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
and proclaim to us former things?
Let them present their witnesses
so they may be justified,
or let them hear and say, “It’s true.”
10 “You are My witnesses”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and My Servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe Me,
and understand that I am He.
Before Me no God was formed,
and there will none after Me.
11 “I, I am Adonai—
and there is no savior beside Me.[a]
12 I alone declared, saved and proclaimed,
and not some foreign god among you.
So you are My witnesses”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“and I am God.
13 From eternity, I am He.
None can deliver from My hand.
I act, and who can reverse it?”
14 Thus says Adonai,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down the fleeing Chaldeans, all of them,
in the ships in which they exult.
15 I am Adonai, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and aide to my need. 26 For he was longing for you all and troubled because you heard that he was sick. 27 He certainly was sick, close to death. But God had mercy on him—and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him with special urgency, so that when you see him again you might rejoice and I might be less worried about you. 29 So welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, 30 because he came close to death for the work of Messiah, risking his life to make up for what was lacking in your service to me.
Where Do You Put Your Confidence?
3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! To keep writing the same things to you is not troublesome for me—but for you it is a safeguard.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.