Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord—a Safe Place

11 In the Lord I am safe. How can you say to me, “Fly away as a bird to your mountain? ² For look, the sinful raise their bow. They make their arrow ready on the string to shoot in the dark against the pure in heart. ³ If the base of the building is destroyed, what can those who are right with God do?”

⁴ The Lord is in His holy house. The Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes see as He tests the sons of men. ⁵ The Lord tests and proves those who are right and good and those who are sinful. And His soul hates the one who loves to hurt others. ⁶ He will send down fire upon the sinful. Fire and sulphur and burning wind will be the cup they will drink. ⁷ For the Lord is right and good. He loves what is right and good. And those who are right with Him will see His face.

The Earth Will Be Punished

24 See, the Lord will lay the earth waste. He will destroy it, turn its ground up-side-down, and send its people everywhere. ² What happens to the people will happen to the religious leader. What happens to the man servant will happen to his owner. The woman servant will be like her owner. The buyer will be like the seller. The giver will be like the receiver. The one who lets another use his money will be like the one who uses it. ³ All the earth will be laid waste and destroyed, for the Lord has said this.

⁴ The earth cries in sorrow and wastes away. The world becomes weak with sorrow and wastes away, together with the honored people of the earth. ⁵ The earth has been made unclean by its people. They have sinned and not obeyed the laws, and have broken the agreement that was to be forever. ⁶ So the earth is cursed and those who live in it suffer for their guilt. So the people of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁷ The new wine dries up and the vine wastes away. All the glad in heart are in sorrow. ⁸ The happiness of the music-makers stops. The noise of those filled with joy stops. The happiness of the harp stops. ⁹ They do not drink wine with singing. Strong drink tastes bad to those who drink it. ¹⁰ The city of trouble is broken down. Every house is shut up so no one may go in. ¹¹ There is a crying out in the streets about the wine. All joy turns to darkness. The happiness of the earth is gone. ¹² The city is laid waste. The gate is broken to pieces. ¹³ For this is how it will be on the earth among the nations. It will be like the shaking of an olive tree, and like what is left after the grapes have been gathered.

¹⁷ Because Abraham had faith, when he was tested, he gave his son Isaac as a gift on the altar in worship. God had made a promise to Abraham that He would give him a son. And yet Abraham was willing to give his only son as a gift on the altar in worship. ¹⁸ God had said to Abraham, “Your family will come from Isaac.” ^{(A) 19} Abraham believed God was able to bring Isaac back to life again. And so it may be said that Abraham did receive him back from death.

²⁰ Because Isaac had faith, he said that good would come to Jacob and Esau in the future. ²¹ Because Jacob had faith, he said that good would come to each of Joseph’s sons as he was dying. He used his walking stick to hold him up as he prayed to God.

²² Because Joseph had faith, he spoke of the Jews leaving the country of Egypt. He was going to die soon, and he told them to bury his body in the country where they were going.

²³ Because of faith, Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months. They saw that he was a beautiful child. They were not afraid of the king when he said that all baby boys should be killed.

²⁴ Because Moses had faith, he would not be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he grew up. ²⁵ He chose to suffer with God’s people instead of having fun doing sinful things for awhile. ²⁶ Any shame that he suffered for Christ was worth more than all the riches in Egypt. He kept his eyes on the reward God was going to give him.

²⁷ Because Moses had faith, he left Egypt. He was not afraid of the king’s anger. Moses did not turn from the right way but kept seeing God in front of him. ²⁸ Because Moses had faith, he told all the Jews to put blood over their doors. Then the angel of death would pass over their houses and not kill their oldest sons.