Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Let All Peoples Praise Yahweh
117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For his loyal love is mighty on our behalf,
and the faithfulness of Yahweh is forever.
Praise Yah![a]
Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered from Their Distress
30 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,[a] 2 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying,[b] ‘Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you in a scroll. 3 For look, days are coming,’ declares[c] Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunes[d] of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors[e] and they will take possession of it.’”
4 Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 “For thus says Yahweh:
‘We have heard a sound of trembling,
terror, and there is no peace.
6 Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child.
Why do I see every strong man
with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth?
And why are all their faces changed to paleness?
7 Alas! For that day is great,
there is none like it.[f]
And it is a time of distress for Jacob,
yet from it he will be delivered.
8 And it will happen on that day,’ declares[g] Yahweh of hosts,
‘I will break his yoke from your neck
and your bonds I will tear to pieces.
And strangers will no longer let him work as a slave.
9 But they will serve Yahweh their God,
and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 But you must not fear, my servant Jacob,’ declares[h] Yahweh,
‘and you must not be dismayed, Israel,
for look, I am going to save you from far,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return,
and he will be at rest,
and he will be at ease,
and there will be no one who makes him[i] afraid.
11 For I am with you,’ declares[j] Yahweh, ‘to save you.
For I will make a complete destruction
of all the nations to which I scattered you,
but you I will not make a complete destruction.
And I will chastise you to the measure,
and I will not leave you entirely unpunished.’
12 For thus says Yahweh,
‘Your injury is incurable,
your wound is overcome by sickness.
13 There is no one who pleads your cause,
for your boil there is no healing for you.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you,
they do not care for you.
I have struck you with the blow of an enemy,
the punishment of the cruel,
because of the greatness of your guilt,
your sins are numerous.
15 Why do you cry because of your wound?
Your pain is incurable.
Because of the greatness of your guilt—your sins are vast—
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore[k] all those who devour you will be devoured,
and all your foes, all of them will go into captivity,
and those who plunder you will be as plunder,
and all those who plunder you I will make as plunder.
17 For I will present healing to you,
and I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares[l] Yahweh.
‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying,
“It is Zion, there is no one who cares for her.”’
5 And the one seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!” And he said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am[a] the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water from the spring of the water of life freely.[b] 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God[c] and he will be my son[d]. 8 But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.
A Description of the New Jerusalem
9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 that has the glory of God. Its radiance is like a precious stone, something like a jasper stone, shining like crystal. 12 It has[e] a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates which are[f] of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel— 13 on the east, three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me was holding a golden measuring rod in order that he could measure the city and its gates and its wall. 16 And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is the same as its width. And he measured the city with the measuring rod at twelve thousand stadia;[g] the length and the width and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits[h] according to human measure[i], which is the angel’s. 18 And the material of its wall is jasper, and the city is pure gold, similar in appearance to pure glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there), 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 And every unclean thing and one who practices[j] detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.
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