Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise the Lord![a]
117 All you nations in the world,
praise the Lord!
People from every place,
praise him!
2 The Lord's faithful love for us is very strong.
He will always do what he has promised.
Praise the Lord!
The Lord makes promises to his people
30 The Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 2 ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “Write all the words that I have spoken in a book.” 3 I, the Lord, tell you this: “The time will come when I will bring back my people from foreign lands. I will bring the people of Israel and Judah back to the land that I gave to their ancestors. It will belong to them.” That is what the Lord says.’
4 The Lord spoke this message about Israel and Judah:
5 The Lord said,
‘People are shouting because they are afraid!
Listen to them!
There is no peace anywhere.
6 Think carefully about this.
Do men ever give birth to babies?
So why are these strong men weak with pain?
They seem like a woman who is giving birth.
All their faces have become white with fear.
7 It will be a time of terrible trouble,
worse than anything that has happened before.
It will be a time of great trouble for Jacob's descendants.[a]
But I will rescue them from their trouble.’
8 The Lord Almighty says this:
‘When that day comes,
I will break the yoke that is around your necks.[b]
I will remove the ropes that tie your legs.
My people will no longer be slaves
under the power of foreign people.
9 Instead, they will serve the Lord their God.
They will serve David's descendant.
I will raise that man up to be their king.’
10 The Lord says,
‘Do not be afraid, descendants of Jacob, my servants.
People of Israel, do not be upset.
I will rescue you and your descendants from your enemies.
I will bring you back from the land far away,
where you are prisoners.
Jacob's descendants will return to their own land.
They will live there safely in peace.
There will be no enemies to make them afraid.’
11 The Lord says,
‘I am with you and I will save you.
I have sent you away to live in foreign lands.
That was the punishment that you deserved.
I will completely destroy the nations where I sent you to live.
But I will not completely destroy you.
I will certainly punish you,
but only as much as you deserve.’
12 The Lord says this to Zion's people:
‘You have received very bad wounds.
Nobody can make you well again.
13 There is no one who will speak on your behalf.
There is no medicine that can make you well.
14 All your friends have turned away from you.
They do not want to help you in your troubles.
I have hurt you,
in the way that an enemy might attack you.
You have lived in a very wicked way,
and you are guilty of many sins.
So I had to punish you,
to teach you what is right.
15 You complain about your wounds.
You say that your pain will never get better.
But I had to punish you,
because you are very wicked,
and you are guilty of many sins.
16 But I will destroy your enemies who destroyed you.
All of them will go as prisoners to foreign lands.
They took your valuable things for themselves.
Now I will take away their valuable things.
17 People say that nobody takes care of you,
people of Zion.
They say that I have chased you out of your land.
But I will give you back your health.
I will make your wounds better.’
That is what the Lord says.
5 God, who was sitting on the throne, said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, because these words are true. Everyone should believe them.’
6 He also said to me, ‘Everything is now done! I caused all things to begin and I will cause the end of all things. I am the beginning and the end. If anyone is thirsty, I will give them water to drink. Nobody will have to pay anything for it. That water comes from a spring of water that gives life to people. 7 Everyone who wins against Satan will receive all these things from me. I will be their God and they will be my children.
8 But I will punish other people. They include:
people who are afraid of trouble;
people who do not believe in Jesus;
people who do disgusting things;
people who murder other people;
people who have sex in a wrong way;
people who use magic to hurt people;
people who worship idols;
people who tell lies.
All these people will go into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the second death for people.’
New city of Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls that were full of the seven final troubles came to me. He said, ‘Come with me! I will show you the bride who will become the Lamb's wife.’
10 Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It had the bright glory of God. It shone like a valuable jewel that is called jasper. It shone like clean glass. 12 The city had a very big, high wall round it. The wall had 12 gates in it. 12 angels stood at the 12 gates. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel's people were written on the 12 gates. 13 There were three gates on each side of the city:
three gates were on the east side,
three gates were on the north side,
three gates were on the south side,
three gates were on the west side.
14 The city's wall has a foundation of 12 strong stones. The names of the Lamb's 12 apostles were written on those 12 stones.[a]
15 The angel who talked to me had a long gold stick. He used it to measure things. So he could measure the city and its gates and its walls. 16 The shape of the city was a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with his stick. It was 12,000 stadia (2,400 kilometres) long. It was as wide and as high as it was long. 17 He also measured its wall. The size of the wall was 144 cubits (65 metres). That is the way that humans measure things. The angel also measured in the same way.[b]
18 The wall was made from the jewel that is called jasper. The city was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass. 19 The strong stones that were the foundation of the city's wall were very beautiful. They had valuable jewels in them that were different colours. Each great stone had its own special jewel. They were called:
1. Jasper;
2. Sapphire;
3. Agate;
4. Emerald;
20 5. Onyx;
6. Carnelian;
7. Quartz;
8. Beryl;
9. Topaz;
10. Chrysoprase;[c]
11. Jacinth;
12. Amethyst.
21 The 12 gates were 12 pearls. They had used a single pearl to make each gate. The city's biggest street was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass.
22 When I looked, I saw that there was no temple in the city. The Lord God, who has all power and authority, is there himself. The Lamb is also there. So people do not need a special place to worship him there. 23 Also, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. God's bright glory gives light to the city. The Lamb is the lamp that gives it light.
24 People from all the world's nations will live in the city's light. The earth's rulers will bring all their valuable things into it. 25 Nobody will ever shut the city's gates at the end of the day. It will always be day and there will be no night there. 26 People from all the world's nations will bring their beautiful and valuable things into the city. 27 But nothing that is bad or unclean will ever go in there. Nobody who does anything that God hates will go into the city. Nobody who tells lies will go in. Only those people with their names written in the Lamb's book of life can go in there.[d]
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