Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Call to Praise the Lord
A psalm of thanks.
100 Shout to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with joy;
come before him with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us [Gen. 1–2], and ·we belong to him [or not ourselves];
we are his people, the sheep ·he tends [L of his pasture; 74:1; 79:13; John 10:11–14].
4 Come into his ·city [L gates] with songs of thanksgiving
and into his courtyards with songs of praise.
·Thank [Praise] him and ·praise [bless] his name.
5 The Lord is good. His ·love [loyalty] is forever,
and his ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·goes on and on [L for all generations].
15 And Israel blessed Joseph and said,
“My ·ancestors [fathers] Abraham and Isaac ·served [L walked before] our God,
and like a shepherd God has led me all my life.
16 He was the Angel who ·saved [redeemed] me from all ·my troubles [harm].
Now I pray that he will bless these boys.
May my name be known through these boys,
and may the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac be known through them.
May they ·have many descendants [grow into a large group]
on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he ·didn’t like it [L thought it was wrong]. So he took hold of his father’s hand, wanting to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “·You are doing it wrong, Father, since Manasseh [L No, my Father, for this] is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will be great and ·have many descendants [L become great]. But his younger brother will be greater, and his ·descendants [L seed] will ·be enough to make a nation [L become the fullness of nations; C Ephraim would become the dominant tribe in northern Israel].”
20 So ·Israel [L he] blessed them that day and said,
“When a blessing is given in Israel, they will say:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”
In this way he ·made Ephraim greater than [L set Ephraim before] Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look at me; I am about to die. But God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your fathers. 22 I have given you something that I did not give your brothers—the land of Shechem [or mountain slope; 12:6] that I took from the Amorite people with my sword and my bow [perhaps 34:1–31].”
The Song of the Saved
14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion [C a mountain near Jerusalem where the temple was located, representing the presence of God]. With him were one hundred forty-four thousand people [7:4] who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads [13:16]. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the noise of ·flooding water [rushing water; L many waters; 1:15] and like the ·sound [peal] of loud thunder [19:6]. The sound I heard was like ·people [L harpists] playing harps. 3 And they sang a new song [C a song celebrating divine deliverance; 5:9; Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1] before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders [4:4]. No one could learn the new song except the one hundred forty-four thousand [7:4] who had been ·bought [redeemed] from the earth. 4 These are the ones who did not ·do sinful things [defile themselves] with women, because they ·kept themselves pure [L are virgins]. They follow the Lamb every place he goes. ·These one hundred forty-four thousand [L They] were ·bought [redeemed] from ·among the people of the earth [L humanity; mankind] as ·people to be offered [L firstfruits; C the earliest part of the harvest was offered to God] to God and the Lamb. 5 ·They were not guilty of telling lies [L No lie was found in their mouth]; they are ·without fault [blameless].
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying ·high in the air [L in mid-heaven; 8:13]. He had the eternal ·Good News [Gospel] to preach to those who ·live [dwell] on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He ·preached [L spoke] in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him ·praise [glory], because the ·time has come for God to judge all people [L hour of his judgment has come]. So worship God who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the springs of water.”
8 Then the second angel followed the first angel and said, “·Ruined, ruined [L Fallen, fallen] is ·the great city of Babylon [L Babylon the Great; C the capital of the empire that destroyed Jerusalem in 586 bc, a symbol for the evil world system opposing God; 2 Kin. 24—25; Is. 21:9; Dan. 4:30]! She made all the nations drink the wine of the ·anger [or passion; C the Greek word thymos can mean either anger or passion; see v. 10 for a possible play on words] of her ·adultery [or sexual immorality].”
9 Then a third angel followed the first two angels, saying in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his ·idol [image] and ·gets [receives; takes] the beast’s ·mark [brand; stamp] on the forehead or on the hand, 10 that one also will drink the wine of God’s anger [C perhaps a play on words with v. 8; Babylon’s “passion” will bring on God’s “wrath”], which is prepared ·with all its strength [undiluted; L unmixed; C wine was often mixed with water] in the cup of his anger [C God’s judgment is often portrayed in the OT as a “cup” of wine poured out; Jer. 25:15–29]. And that person will be ·put in pain [tortured; tormented] with ·burning sulfur [L fire and sulfur] before the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 And the smoke from their ·burning pain [torture; torment] will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest, day or night, for those who worship the beast and his ·idol [image] or who get the ·mark [brand; stamp] of his name.”
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