Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 21[a]
Thanksgiving for Messianic Blessings
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength;
your victories fill him with great joy.[c]
3 You have granted him the desire of his heart[d]
and not withheld from him the request of his lips. Selah
4 You welcomed him with choice blessings[e]
and placed a crown of pure gold upon his head.
5 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.[f]
6 He has achieved great glory through your victory;
you have bestowed upon him splendor and majesty.[g]
7 You have conferred everlasting blessings[h] on him;
you gladdened him with the joy of your presence.
8 For the king places his trust in the Lord;
through the kindness[i] of the Most High he will not fall.
9 [j]Your hand will lay hold of all your enemies;
your right hand will overcome all your foes.
10 On the day when you appear,[k]
you will cast them into a fiery furnace.
The Lord’s anger will engulf them,
and fire will consume them.
11 You will blot out their descendants from the earth
and rid the human race of their posterity.[l]
12 They have devised wicked schemes against you,
but, plot though they may, they will not succeed.
13 For you will force them to retreat
when you aim your bows at them.
14 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength;[m]
we will sing and praise your power.
Apocalypse of Isaiah[a]
Chapter 24
Universal Judgment: A Grateful Remnant
1 Behold how the Lord is preparing
to lay waste the earth;
he will turn it into a desert
and scatter its inhabitants,
2 with the same fate afflicting both priest and people,
slave and master,
maid and mistress,
seller and buyer,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
3 The earth will be totally ravaged
and completely despoiled;
this has the Lord decreed.
4 The earth mourns and fades away;
the world languishes and withers;
the exalted of the earth are brought low.
5 The earth is defiled
by those who dwell in it;
for they have transgressed laws,
violated statutes,
and broken the everlasting covenant.[b]
6 Therefore, a curse has consumed the earth,
and its inhabitants pay the penalty of their guilt;
as a result, the number of its inhabitants dwindles,
and only a few survive.
7 The new wine dries up
and the vine withers away
as the revelers groan in their sorrow.
8 The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;
the shouts of the revelers fade away;
the lyre’s joyful melodies are no longer heard.
9 The people drink wine but without any singing;
strong liquor tastes bitter to those who consume it.
10 The city is shattered and in a state of chaos;
every house has its entrance barred.[c]
11 In the streets the people cry out for wine;
no joy can be observed;
happiness seems to have been banished from the land.
12 Only desolation remains in the city;
its gates have been smashed so badly
that they are beyond hope of repair.
13 This condition will hold true
among all the nations throughout the world;
as happens to an olive tree after it is beaten
or to the gleanings that remain
after the grape harvest.
14 The people raise their voices in joyful praise,
proclaiming from the west the majesty of the Lord,
15 “Let the Lord be glorified in the east;
in the coastlands of the sea
glorify the name of the Lord,
the God of Israel.”
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs
that praise the glory of the Righteous One.
But I said, “I am wasting away.
I am wasting away. Woe is me!
For the traitors continue to betray;
the traitors have acted with great treachery.
God Wills Your Sanctification[a]
Chapter 4
Respect for the Body.[b] 1 Finally, brethren, you learned from us how you ought to live so that you may be pleasing to God—and as you are indeed doing. Now we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus to do so even more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 It is the will of God that you should lead a life of sanctity. You must refrain from sexual immorality. 4 Each of you must learn to acquire a wife from pure and honorable motives, 5 not to gratify passion[c] like the Gentiles who do not know God. 6 No one is ever to wrong or take advantage of a brother in this regard.
As we have previously instructed you and solemnly warned you, the Lord is the avenger in all this. 7 For God has called us to holiness, not to impurity. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects these instructions[d] rejects not human authority but the God who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
An Honorable Life.[e] 9 In respect to brotherly love, there is no necessity to write to you about that, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. 10 And indeed you have shown your love to all the brethren throughout Macedonia. However, we urge you, brethren, to make even greater progress in this regard.
11 Strive to live quietly, to attend to your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you.[f] 12 In this way, you will earn the respect of outsiders and not have to be dependent on anyone.
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