Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song to sing as we climb.
The Lord has done great things for us![a]
126 When the Lord turned us round,
so that we enjoyed a good life in Zion again,
we thought that we were dreaming!
2 At that time, we laughed a lot.
We shouted because we were so happy!
People in other countries said to each other,
‘The Lord has done great things for them!’
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us.
So we are very happy.
4 Lord, please bless us like before.
That will be like streams of water that return to the desert.[b]
5 When people went out to plant their seeds,
they were crying.
But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!
6 People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant.[c]
But when they carry their crops back home,
they will shout because they are so happy![d]
7 Abraham lived for 175 years. 8 He died after a good and long life, when he was very old. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. 9 His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried his body in the cave of Machpelah. That was near Mamre. The cave is in the field that belonged to Zohar's son, Ephron. He was a Hittite. 10 Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites.
So they buried Abraham there. It was in the cave where his wife, Sarah, had also been buried.
11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son, Isaac. Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.
The believers must continue to trust God
13 We always thank God for you, our Christian friends that the Lord loves. We ought to thank God, because he has chosen to save you. God chose you to belong to him, as some of the first people that he would save. You believed God's true message. And God's Spirit makes you separate from things that are bad. 14 We told you God's good news. That is how God called you to come to him. He saved you so that you would join with our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven.
15 Because of that, our Christian friends, you must continue to trust Christ. Continue to believe the true things that we taught you. Those are the things that we told you when we were with you. We also wrote about them in our letter to you.
16 We ask our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, to help you. God has shown that he loves us very much. He has helped us to be brave and strong for all time. We continue to hope for the good things that will come. Yes, God has been very kind to us! 17 We pray that he will continue to help you and make you strong. Then you will always be able to do good things and to say good things.
Paul asks the Christians to pray for him and for his friends
3 Now, friends, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that more and more people will soon hear the Lord's message. Pray that people will receive the message well and accept it as true. That is how you received it. 2 Pray also that God will not let bad people cause trouble for us. Not everyone believes the message about our Lord. 3 But the Lord always does what he has promised. So he will help you to be strong inside yourselves. He will keep you safe when Satan attacks you.
4 Because you belong to the Lord, he makes us sure about you. We know that you are doing the things that we tell you to do. And we know that you will continue to do those things. 5 We pray that the Lord will lead you in your thoughts. Then you will understand God's love better and better. And you will be patient and strong, as Christ is.
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