Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Exalt Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Israel and Judah Restored
30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For surely the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah. The Lord says, I also will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. 5 For thus says the Lord:
I have heard a sound of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
can a male labor with child?
Why do I see every man
with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor,
and all faces turned pale?
7 Alas! for that day is great,
so that no one is like it;
it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble,
but he shall be saved out of it.
8 For it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of Hosts,
that I shall break his yoke from off their neck
and tear away their bonds,
and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves.
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.
10 Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
says the Lord,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for I will save you from afar,
and your seed from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob shall return and shall be in rest and be quiet,
and no one shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with you, says the Lord,
to save you.
Although I make a full end of all nations
wherever I have scattered you,
yet I will not make a full end of you.
But I will correct you in measure
and will not leave you altogether unpunished.
12 For thus says the Lord:
Your bruise is incurable
and your wound is severe.
13 There is no one to plead your cause
that you may be bound up.
You have no healing medicines.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
they do not seek you;
for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
with the chastisement of a cruel one,
because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins are numerous.
15 Why do you cry because of your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable.
Because of the multitude of your iniquities, because your sins are numerous,
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity.
And those who plunder you will become plunder,
and all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
17 For I will restore health to you,
and I will heal you of your wounds,
says the Lord,
because they called you an outcast, saying,
“This is Zion whom no man cares for.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making all things new.” Then He said to me, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the spring of the water of life to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.[a] 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars shall have their portion in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said to me, “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 high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, her light like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 He who talked with me had a golden rod to measure the city and its gates and wall. 16 The city lies as a square, its length as long as its width. He measured the city with the rod: one thousand four hundred miles.[b] Its length and breadth and height are equal. 17 He then measured its wall: two hundred feet[c] by the measurement of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The wall was built of jasper and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all kinds of precious jewels. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall never be shut by day, for there shall be no night there. 26 They shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 No unclean thing shall ever enter it, nor shall anyone who commits abomination or falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.