Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
15 They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year Darius was king [v. 1].
The Beauty of the Temple
2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month [C Oct. 17, 520 bc; Tishri 21 on the Hebrew calendar; the same date Solomon finished the temple 440 years earlier (960 bc); 1 Kin. 6:38; 8:2], the Lord spoke his word through Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest [1:1], and to the ·rest of the people who are left alive [remnant of the people; 1:12]. Say, 3 ‘Do any of you remember ·how great the Temple was [the former glory of this house] before it was destroyed? What does it look like now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you?’ 4 But the Lord says, ‘Zerubbabel, be ·brave [strong]. Also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, be ·brave [strong]. And all you people who live in the land, be ·brave [strong],’ says the Lord. ‘Work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 5 ‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit ·is still with [remains among] you. So don’t be afraid.’
6 “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says: ‘In a short time I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and ·they will bring their wealth [L the treasures of the nations shall come]. Then I will fill this ·Temple [L house] with glory [C God’s manifest presence],’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 8 ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 9 ‘The ·new Temple [L glory of this second/latter house] will be greater than the one before,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].”
Praise to God the King
A psalm of praise. Of David.
145 I ·praise your greatness [exalt you], my God the King;
I will ·praise [bless] ·you [L your name] forever and ever.
2 I will ·praise [bless] you every day;
I will praise ·you [L your name] forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great and ·worthy of our praise [greatly to be praised; 48:1];
·no one can understand how great he is [L there is no searching out/limit to his greatness].
4 ·Parents [L A generation] will ·tell their children [L praise to a generation] what you have done.
They will ·retell [proclaim] your mighty acts,
5 ·wonderful majesty, and glory [L and the majestic glory of your splendor; C God’s manifest presence].
And I will ·think about [meditate on] your ·miracles [wonderful works].
17 ·Everything the Lord does is right [L The Lord is righteous in all his ways].
He is loyal ·to all he has made [or in all his deeds].
18 The Lord is ·close [near] to everyone who ·prays to [calls on] him,
to all who ·truly pray to him [call on him in truth/faithfulness].
19 He ·gives those who respect him what they want [L accomplishes the desire of all who fear him; Prov. 1:7].
He listens when they cry, and he ·saves them [gives them victory].
20 The Lord ·protects [guards; keeps] everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy the wicked.
21 ·I will praise [L My mouth will speak the praise of] the Lord.
Let ·everyone [L all flesh] ·praise [bless] his holy name forever.
The Lord of Power and Justice
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3],
because he has done ·miracles [wonderful acts].
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has made known his ·power to save [salvation; victory];
he has ·shown [revealed to] ·the other [L before the eyes of the] nations his ·victory for his people [righteousness].
3 He has remembered his ·love [loyalty]
and his ·loyalty [faithfulness] to the ·people [L house] of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s ·power to save [salvation; victory].
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
·burst into songs [L break forth and sing for joy] and make ·music [a psalm].
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the ·sheep’s [ram’s] horns;
shout for joy to the Lord the King [47:2; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].
7 Let the sea and ·everything in it [its fullness] ·shout [thunder];
let the world and everyone in it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord,
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world ·fairly [with righteousness];
he will judge the peoples with fairness [96:13].
Evil Things Will Happen
2 Brothers and sisters, ·we have something to say about [L concerning] the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ·the time when we will meet [our assembly/being gathered] together with him. 2 ·Do not [We ask/request that you don’t] become ·easily [quickly] ·upset [unsettled; shaken] in your thinking or ·afraid [disturbed; alarmed] if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come [C the time of Christ’s return and the judgments associated with it]. Someone may have said this ·in a prophecy [L by a spirit; or by the Spirit] or ·in a message [or by word of mouth] or in a letter as if it came from us [C a forged letter]. 3 Do not let anyone ·fool [deceive] you in any way. That day of the Lord [v. 2] will not come until the ·turning away from God [great rebellion; apostasy; Matt. 24:11–12; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; 2 Pet. 2:3; Jude 18] happens and the Man of ·Evil[a] [Wickedness; L Lawlessness; C probably the Antichrist; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 13], ·who is on his way to hell [L the son of destruction; John 17:12], appears. 4 He will ·be against [defy; oppose] and ·put himself above [exalt himself against] any so-called god or ·anything that [any object that; or any place where] people worship [Is. 14:13–14; Ezek. 28:2–9; Dan. 11:36] ·and [or so that] he will even go into the Temple of God and sit there and ·say that he is [present himself as] God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I told you that all this would happen?
You Are Chosen for Salvation
13 Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning[a] to be saved. So we ·must [ought to] always thank God for you. You are saved by the ·Spirit that makes you holy [sanctifying work of the Spirit] and by your faith in the truth. 14 God used the ·Good News [Gospel] that we preached to call you to be saved so you can ·share in [obtain; possess] the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So, brothers and sisters, stand ·strong [firm] and ·continue to believe [hold fast to; grasp firmly] the ·teachings we gave you [L traditions you were taught] ·in our speaking and in our [L whether through our word or our] letter.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through his grace gave us eternal ·comfort [encouragement] and a good hope, 17 ·encourage [comfort] you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus(A)
27 Some Sadducees, who believed people would not rise from the dead, came to Jesus. 28 They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and ·have children [L raise up offspring/seed] for his brother [Deut. 25:5–6]. 29 Once there were seven brothers. The first brother ·married [L took a wife] and died, but had no children. 30 Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. 31 And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all seven brothers; they died and had no children. 32 Finally, the woman died also. 33 Since all seven brothers had married her, whose wife will she be ·when people rise from the dead [L at the resurrection]?”
34 Jesus said to them, “·On earth, people [L The children of this age] marry and are given to someone to marry. 35 But those who will be worthy ·to be raised from the dead and live again [L of the age to come and the resurrection] will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. 36 [L For] In that life they are ·like [or equal to] angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they ·have been raised from the dead [are children of the resurrection]. 37 Even Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When he wrote about the burning bush [Ex. 3:1–12], he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob [Ex. 3:6; C God is still the God of the patriarchs, so they must have a continued existence after death].’ 38 God is the God of the living, not the dead, because all people are alive to him.”
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