Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Asaph wrote this psalm.
God is our judge[a]
50 God, the great God, the Lord, is speaking.
He is calling everybody on the earth,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
2 God is shining out from Zion,
that most beautiful place.
3 Our God is coming,
and he does not come quietly!
A fire burns up everything that is in front of him.
There is a great storm all round him.
4 He calls to the skies above,
and to the earth below.
They must watch while he judges his people.
5 He says, ‘Bring my people to me.
They are the people who offered sacrifices to me,
to agree our covenant.’
6 The skies above show that God is righteous,
and God himself is the judge.
Selah.
26 Nebat's son Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officers. He came from Zeredah in Ephraim.[a] His mother was a widow. Her name was Zeruah. Jeroboam turned against King Solomon. 27 This is what happened: Solomon had built the Millo. He had also mended the walls of the City of David his father. 28 Jeroboam was a strong young man. Solomon saw that he did his work very well. So he made Jeroboam the leader of the workers who belonged to Joseph's tribe.
29 During that time, Jeroboam travelled out from Jerusalem. A prophet, Ahijah, met him on the road. They were alone in the country. Ahijah came from Shiloh. He was wearing a new coat. 30 Ahijah took off his new coat. He tore it into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten pieces for yourself. This is what the Lord, Israel's God, is saying to you: “I will take Solomon's kingdom away from him! I will give you ten tribes to rule over. 32 But Solomon will continue to rule over one tribe. That is because King David served me faithfully, and because I have chosen Jerusalem as my special city. I did not choose a city in any of the other tribes of Israel.
33 I will take the kingdom away from Solomon because he and his people have turned away from me. They have started to worship Ashtoreth, the female god of the Sidonian people. They also worship Chemosh, the god of the Moabite people, and Molech, the god of the Ammonite people. They have not lived in a way that pleases me. They have not done the things that I say are right. They have not obeyed my rules and my laws. They have not lived in a good way, as Solomon's father David did.
34 But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon. I will let him continue to rule as king while he still lives. I will do that because of my servant David that I chose to be king. David obeyed my commands and my rules. 35 I will take the kingdom away from his son and I will give ten tribes for you to rule. 36 But I will leave one tribe for Solomon's son to rule. Then my servant David will continue to have a descendant who serves me as king in Jerusalem. That is the city where I have chosen for people to worship me.
37 But I will make you, Jeroboam, king of Israel. You will rule over all the land that you want for yourself. 38 But you must do everything that I command you to do. You must live in a way that pleases me. You must do the things that I say are right. You must obey my rules and my commands, as my servant David did. If you do that, I will always be with you. I will cause your descendants to continue to rule Israel. What I have done for David's family, I will also do for your family. The nation of Israel will belong to you.[b] 39 Because of Solomon's sins I will punish David's descendants. But I will not punish them for ever.” ’
40 Solomon then tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt. Shishak, the king of Egypt, kept Jeroboam safe. Jeroboam stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
The good news about Christ
12 I went to Troas city to tell people the good news about Christ.[a] When I arrived there, I discovered that the Lord had already prepared people to listen. 13 But I was not happy in my thoughts because I could not find my friend Titus there. So I said ‘goodbye’ to those people and I travelled on to Macedonia.
14 But I thank God! He has won against sin, because of what Christ has done. Christ is our leader and we show that he is the winner. We also help people to know about Christ. That knowledge is like a lovely smell that comes to people everywhere. 15 When we tell people about Christ, we are like a lovely smell that rises up to God. We are like that among the people that God is saving. We are also like that among the people who are dying because they are far from God. 16 For the people who are dying, we are like a bad smell that brings a message of death. But for the people that God is saving, we are like a lovely smell that brings a message of new life.
Nobody is really good enough to tell such an important message! 17 Some people even tell God's message because they want to get a lot of money for themselves. But we are not like them. No, God himself has sent us to do this work. And he sees what we are doing. So we are honest and we speak God's message clearly, as Christ's servants should do.
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