Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Protects Those Who Trust Him
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
125 Those who ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord are like Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple],
which sits unmoved forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
now and forever.
3 The ·wicked will not rule
over [L scepter of the wicked will not rest on; C the scepter is a symbol of rule] ·those who do right [L the allotment of the righteous].
·If they did, the people who do right
might use their power to do evil [L …so the righteous do not send forth their hands in evil].
4 Lord, ·be [or do] good to those who are good,
whose hearts are ·honest [virtuous; filled with integrity].
5 But, Lord, when you ·remove [turn aside] those who ·do evil [are twisted/perverted],
also ·remove [L make go away] those who ·stop following you [L do evil].
Let there be peace in Israel.
16 Then those who ·honored [feared] the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened and heard them. The names of those who ·respected [feared] the Lord and honored ·him [L his name] were written in his presence in a ·book to be remembered [scroll of remembrance].
17 The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says, “They ·belong to me [shall be mine]; on that day they will be my ·very own [treasured possession; special treasure]. As a ·parent [father] ·shows mercy to [spares] his ·child [son] who serves him, I will ·show mercy to [spare] my people. 18 You will again see the difference between ·good [the righteous] and ·evil people [the wicked], between those who serve God and those who don’t.
The Day of the Lord’s Judging
4 “[L For look/T behold] There is a day coming that will burn like a hot furnace, and all the ·proud [arrogant] and ·evil people [evildoers] will be like ·straw [chaff; stubble]. On that day they will be completely burned up so that not a root or branch will be left,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]. 2 “But for you who ·honor me [L fear/revere my name], ·goodness will shine on you like the sun [L the sun of righteousness will rise], with healing in its ·rays [L wings]. You will ·jump around [go out leaping], like ·well-fed calves [L calves from the stall]. 3 Then you will ·crush [trample] the wicked like ashes under your feet on the day I will do this,” says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
4 “Remember the ·teaching [law; L Torah] of Moses my servant, those ·laws [decrees] and rules I gave to him on ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb] for all the Israelites [Ex. 19–24].
5 “But I will send you Elijah the prophet before that great and terrifying day of the ·Lord’s judging [L Lord]. 6 Elijah will ·help parents love [L turn the hearts of fathers/parents to] their children and ·children love [L turn children to] their parents. Otherwise, I will come and ·put a curse on the land [strike the land with a curse/destruction].”
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ·commanded [instructed] them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So they ·obeyed Jesus [kept this statement/matter to themselves], but they discussed what he meant about rising from the dead.
11 Then they asked Jesus, “Why do the ·teachers of the law [scribes] say that Elijah must come first [Mal. 3:1; 4:5]?”
12 Jesus answered, “·They are right to say that Elijah must come first and [L Elijah is indeed coming, and he will] ·make everything the way it should be [restore/prepare everything]. But why does the Scripture say that the Son of Man will suffer much and ·that people will treat him as if he were nothing [be despised; be treated with contempt; be rejected; Is. 52:13—53:12]? 13 [L But] I tell you that Elijah has already come. And ·people [L they] did to him whatever they wanted to do, just as ·the Scriptures said it would happen [it is written about him].”
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