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.
The prophet Ahijah and King Jeroboam
14 At that time, Jeroboam's son Abijah became ill. 2 So Jeroboam said to his wife, ‘Change what you look like so that people will not recognize you as my wife. Then go to Shiloh. The prophet Ahijah lives there.[a] He told me that I would rule the nation of Israel. 3 Take ten loaves of bread with you. Also take some cakes and a pot of honey. When you visit Ahijah, he will tell you what will happen to our son.’
4 Jeroboam's wife did what he told her to do. She went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh. Ahijah could not see because he was very old. 5 But the Lord had said to Ahijah, ‘Jeroboam's wife will come to visit you. Her son is ill and she will ask you what will happen to him. I will tell you what to say to her. When she comes, she will pretend that she is not the king's wife.’
6 Then Ahijah heard her as she walked through the door of his house. He said, ‘Come in, Jeroboam's wife! I know who you are, so do not pretend to be somebody else. The Lord has given me bad news to tell you. 7 Go and say to Jeroboam, “This is what the Lord, Israel's God, says to you: I chose you from among my people, the Israelites, and I made you their ruler. 8 I took Israel's kingdom away from David's family and I gave it to you. But you have not served me faithfully as my servant David did. He obeyed my commands. He was faithful to me and he always did the things that I say are right. 9 But you have done more evil things than any of the kings who lived before you. You have made me very angry. You have used metal to make images of other gods that you could worship. You have turned away from me. 10 Because of this, I will bring great trouble to Jeroboam's family. I will kill every male among his descendants in Israel, whoever they are. I will completely destroy Jeroboam's family, like someone burns a heap of rubbish! 11 If they die in the city, dogs will eat their bodies. If they die in the country, vultures will eat them. This is what the Lord has said will happen!”
12 But you, Jeroboam's wife, should go back home now. As soon as you arrive back in the city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will cry because of his death and they will bury him. He is the only person from Jeroboam's family that they will bury properly. He is the only one among Jeroboam's descendants who has pleased the Lord, Israel's God. 14 The Lord himself will choose another king to rule Israel. That king will destroy Jeroboam's family. This will happen very soon, even today! 15 The Lord will attack the nation of Israel. He will shake it, as the wind shakes a reed that is growing in a stream. The Lord will remove the Israelites from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will take them to places beyond the Euphrates river. They made Asherah poles to worship, so the Lord became very angry with them. 16 He will put Israel under the power of its enemies because of Jeroboam's sins. Jeroboam also caused Israel's people to do bad things.’
17 Then Jeroboam's wife left Ahijah's house. She went back to Tirzah. When she walked through the door of her house, the boy died. 18 They buried him and all the Israelites cried because of his death. The Lord had told his servant the prophet Ahijah what would happen. And that is what happened.
Paul thanks Christ Jesus
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me strong to serve him. He decided to trust me and he chose me to work on his behalf. 13 Before he chose me, I said bad things about him. I caused great trouble for his people. I was a cruel man, but God was very kind to me. He forgave me because I did not know what I was doing. That was because I did not believe in Jesus. 14 Our Lord continued to be very good and kind to me. He caused me to believe in Christ Jesus and to love him.
15 Here is a true message that everyone should believe: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save people who do wrong things.’ I am the worst person like that! 16 But God was kind to me.[a] Christ Jesus showed that he was completely patient with me, the worst person. That was an example to those people who would later believe in him. They would believe and receive life for ever with God.
17 Praise God, the King who rules for ever! He can never die. He lives where we cannot see him. He is the only God. So praise him and say how great he is! That is true always and for ever! Amen! This is true.
Timothy should be a good leader in the church
18 Timothy, you are like my own child. So now I am telling you to serve God well. Remember the words from God that people spoke about you, when you became a servant of God.[b] Those words will help you to be strong, like a soldier who fights well.[c] 19 You must continue to trust God. Always do what you know to be right. Some people have refused to do what is right, even when they know what they should do. As a result, they no longer believe God's true message. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are people like that.[d] I have given them to Satan so that he may punish them. Then they will learn not to say bad things against God any more.
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