Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Adonai-Nissi

Psalm 20

⁷ Now when they told Jotam, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, lifted up his voice, called out and said to them, “Listen to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you! ⁸ Once the trees set out to anoint a king over them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my oil, that honors God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my sweetness and my delicious fruit, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹² So the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you truly are going to anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

Anointed People Cling to the Anointed One

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that the anti-messiah is coming, even now many anti-messiahs have come—by this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They left us, but they didn’t really belong to us. If they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they left us so it became clear that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. ²¹ I have not written you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

Father and Son Come as One

²² Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? This one is the anti-messiah—the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father; the one who acknowledges the Son also has the Father.

Live in the Anointed One

²⁴ As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will continue to live in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ Now this is the promise that He Himself has promised us—eternal life. ²⁶ I have written you these things about those who are trying to mislead you. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things—and it is true and not a lie—and just as it has taught you, abide in Him. ²⁸ And now, children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we will have confidence and not be ashamed in His presence at His coming.