Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
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].
The Lord Makes a Promise to Zerubbabel
20 Then the Lord spoke his word a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month [December 18, 520 bc; Kislev 24 on the Hebrew calendar]. He said, 21 “Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will ·destroy [overthrow] the ·foreign [L thrones of] kingdoms and ·take away [shatter] the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will destroy the chariots and their riders. The horses will fall with their riders, ·as people kill each other with swords [L each one by the sword of his brother].’ 23 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says, ‘On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will make you ·important like [L like] my signet ring, because I have chosen you!’ says the Lord All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].”
Do Not Help False Teachers
1 From the ·Elder [or old man; C Greek: presbyteros, referring to advanced age, a church office, or both; 1 Tim. 5:17; Titus 1:5; 1 Pet. 5:1; see 3 John 1].
To the ·chosen [elect] lady [C most likely a metaphor for a church] and her children [C the members of that church]:
I love all of you in the truth [C the truth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ], and all those who know the truth love you. 2 We love you because of the truth that ·lives [abides; remains] in us and will be with us forever.
3 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, will be with us in truth and love.
4 I ·was very happy [rejoiced greatly] to learn that some of your children are ·following the way of [living by; L walking in] truth [C living as the Gospel requires], as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, this is not a new command [L I am writing] but is the same command we have had from the beginning. I ask you that we all love each other. 6 And ·love means [L this is love:] ·living the way God commanded us to live [L walking according to his commands]. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: ·Live a life of love [L You must walk in it; C that is, in love; Rom. 13:1–10].
7 [L For] Many ·false teachers [deceivers] ·are in [L have gone out into] the world now [Mark 13:5–6, 22] who do not confess that Jesus Christ came to earth ·as a human [T in the flesh]. Anyone who does not confess this is ·a false teacher [L the deceiver] and ·an enemy of Christ [L the antichrist; C one who radically opposes Christ; 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3]. 8 ·Be careful [Watch] yourselves that you do not lose everything you[a] have worked for, but that you receive your full reward.
9 Anyone who ·goes beyond [runs ahead of] Christ’s teaching and does not ·continue to follow only his teaching [L abide/remain in it] does not have God. But whoever ·continues to follow [L abides/remains in] ·the teaching of Christ [L the teaching] has both the Father and the Son. 10 If someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not ·greet [welcome] that person or ·accept [receive] them into your house. 11 If you welcome such a person, you ·share [participate] in the evil work.
12 I have many things to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to ·come to [visit] you and talk face to face so ·we can be full of joy [our joy can be complete]. 13 The children of your ·chosen [elect] sister [see 1:1; C probably refers to another church] greet you [3 John 13–14].
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