Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Is King

93 The Lord rules. He is dressed with great power. The Lord has dressed Himself with strength. For sure, the world is built to last. It will not be moved. ² Your throne is set up from long ago. You have always been. ³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their beating waves. ⁴ The Lord on high is more powerful than the sound of many waters and the strong waves of the sea. ⁵ Your Word is very sure. O Lord, Your house is holy forever.

Asa Makes Changes

15 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² Azariah went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you look for Him, He will let you find Him. But if you leave Him, He will leave you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching religious leader, and without law. ⁴ But in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel. They looked for Him, and He let them find Him. ⁵ In those times there was no peace for him who went out, or for him who came in. For much trouble came to all the people of the lands. ⁶ Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God sent every kind of trouble upon them. ⁷ But you be strong. Do not lose strength of heart. For you will be paid for your work.”

⁸ When Asa heard these words and the words of Azariah the son of Oded, his heart became strong. He put away the sinful false gods from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He built again the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord’s house. ⁹ Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, who lived with them. For many had left Israel to come to him when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s rule. ¹¹ They killed animals on the altar in worship to the Lord that day. They killed and gave 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep from the animals they had taken in battle. ¹² And they agreed to follow the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul. ¹³ Whoever would not follow the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They made a promise to the Lord with a loud voice, calling out and blowing horns. ¹⁵ All Judah was filled with joy because of the promise. For they had promised with their whole heart. They had looked for the Lord with a pure heart. And He let them find Him. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

¹⁵ The angel had a stick in his hand. It was used to find out how big the city and its gates and the walls were. ¹⁶ He found out that the city was as wide as it was long and it was as high as it was wide. It was as long as a man could walk in fifty days. It was the same each way. ¹⁷ The angel found out that the walls were the same as a man taking seventy-two long steps. The angel used the same way to find out about the city as a man would have used. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold. This gold was as clear as glass. ¹⁹ The city was built on every kind of stone that was worth much money. The first stone was jasper. The second was sapphire. The third was chalcedony. The fourth was emerald. ²⁰ The fifth was sardonyx. The sixth was sardius. The seventh was chrysolite. The eighth was beryl. The ninth was topaz. The tenth was chrysoprase. The eleventh was jacinth and the twelfth was amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each gate was made from one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold. It was as clear as glass.

²² I did not see a house of God in the city. The All-powerful Lord God and the Lamb are the house of God in this city.