Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Sing a new song![a]
96 Sing a new song to praise the Lord!
All the world,
sing to praise the Lord!
2 Sing to praise the Lord's great name!
Every day, tell people the message
that he has rescued us.
3 Tell the other nations that he is very great.
Tell all of them
about the great things that he has done.
4 Yes, the Lord is great!
Everyone should praise him as he deserves.
People should respect him with fear,
more than all other gods.
5 All the other nations' gods are useless idols.
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 We see that he is a very great king.
His holy home is full of his power and his beauty.
7 You people of other nations,
recognize that the Lord is great and powerful.
8 Agree that the Lord's name is great.
Bring a gift to offer to him in his temple.
9 Worship the Lord,
who is beautiful and holy.
Everyone on earth must shake with fear in front of him.
10 Tell all the nations,
‘The Lord rules as King!’
He has fixed the world in its place,
so that nothing can shake it.
He will judge all the people of the world fairly.
11 The earth and the sky
should be happy!
The sea and everything in it
should shout aloud!
12 The fields and all their crops should shout with joy!
Then all the trees in the forests will also sing
because they are so happy!
13 They will sing to praise the Lord,
for he will come to judge the earth.
He is a fair judge.
He will judge all the people of the world with his truth.
The Lord will be with his people
14 Sing, you people in Zion. You are my own people, like my own daughter.
Shout, you people in Israel!
Be very, very happy, my people in Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has not punished you as he would have done.
He has sent your enemy away.
I, the King of Israel, am with you!
The bad times have gone.
They will not happen again!
16 On that special day, this will be my message for Jerusalem.
‘Do not be afraid now! Do not be weak now!
17 The Lord, your God, is with you.
He is strong. He will save you.
He will be very happy about you!
He will quietly love you.
He will sing, because he is so happy about you!
18 I will bring together those people among you who want to meet together again.
You want to meet again to pray. And you want to meet again to praise God.
You have had enough cruel words from your enemies.
19 Look! At that time, I will punish
all those people who hurt you.
I will save those who cannot walk well.
I will bring back the people that the enemy has sent away.
I will cause people in every country to know about you. I will cause them to praise you.
20 At that time, I will bring you back to your home.
I will bring you back together.
I will give you a good name among all the people on the earth.
That is what I will do. I will stop your troubles. And you will see it happen.’
That is what the Lord says.
11 Live in that way, because you know what is happening in this time now. It is time that you should stop sleeping. It is now time to wake up. The time when God will save us completely is near. That time is nearer now than when we first believed in him. 12 The night has nearly finished and the day is almost here. So we must stop doing the bad things that belong to the dark. Instead, we must take weapons like soldiers who are ready to fight in the light.[a]
13 We should live in a good way, because we live in the light of day. We should not go to wild parties. We must not be drunks. We must not have sex with anyone who is not our own wife or husband. We must not do wrong things with our bodies. We must not quarrel. We must not be jealous of other people. 14 Instead, you must live with the Lord Jesus Christ as your guide. Do not even think about the bad things that you may want to do to make yourself happy.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.