Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song to praise God
135 Hallelujah![a]
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord!
2 You serve the Lord in his temple.
You serve him in the temple yards.
3 The Lord is good, so praise him!
His name is good and great,
so praise him with songs!
4 The Lord chose Jacob's family for himself.
Yes, he chose Israel's people to belong to him.[b]
5 I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than any other god.
6 He does whatever he decides to do.
He rules the sky and the earth,
and the deepest parts of the sea.
7 The Lord causes clouds to rise up all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the storms of rain.
He sends out the wind from its place,
so that it blows where he chooses.
8 God destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt,
both men and animals.[c]
9 He did great miracles in Egypt.
He warned Pharaoh and his officers
that he would punish them.
10 He destroyed many nations
and he killed powerful kings.
11 He killed Sihon, the king of the Amorites.
He killed Og, the king of Bashan,
and all the other kings of Canaan.
12 He gave their land to his people, the Israelites.
The land would belong to them and to their descendants.
13 Lord, people will always remember your name.
You will always be famous.
14 The Lord shows that his people are right.
He is kind to those who serve him.
15 Other nations make idols with silver and gold.
People worship things that they have made with their hands!
16 Their idols have mouths, but they cannot speak!
They have eyes, but they cannot see!
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear!
They cannot even breathe!
18 The people who made them will become as they are.
Everyone who trusts in idols
will become as useless as their idols are.[d]
19 Israel's family, praise the Lord!
Descendants of Aaron, praise the Lord!
20 Descendants of Levi, praise the Lord!
Everyone who serves the Lord, praise him!
21 Everyone in Zion should praise the Lord.
He is the one who has his home in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
A song to praise God
26 At that time, people will sing this song in Judah:
We have a strong city, where we are safe.
The Lord has made it safe,
like strong walls that protect us all round.[a]
2 Open the gates of the city,
so that the righteous nation can come in.
They are the people who continue to be faithful.
3 Lord, you keep those people safe
who continue to trust in you.
You give them peace in their minds,
because they believe in you.
4 Trust in the Lord now and for ever!
The Almighty Lord will always be our strong Rock.
5 He brings down low the proud people who live in high places.
He destroys their cities.
He knocks down their cities
so that they fall to the ground and become dust.
6 The poor people and the helpless people
will walk all over it.
Trust in the Lord
7 Righteous people walk on a path that is flat. You make their path straight, Lord.
8 Yes, Lord, as we follow the path of your justice, we wait for you to help us. We really want people to know that you are great. We want them to praise your name.
9 During the night, I think about you a lot. When morning arrives, I want to be near to you in my spirit. When you come to judge people on the earth, then people will understand your justice.
10 If you are kind to wicked people, they will never learn to do what is right. They continue to do wrong things, even in a land where people are honest. They do not see that you are great, Lord.
11 Lord, you are ready to punish them, but they do not realize that. Make them see that you love your own people. Then they will become ashamed. In your anger, punish them with fire, as your enemies deserve.
12 Lord, you will give us peace. Everything that we have done, you have done on our behalf.
13 Lord, our God, other lords have ruled over us. But you are the only one that we worship.
14 Those other lords are dead. They will not live again. Their spirits will not rise up again. You punished them and you destroyed them. Nobody remembers them any more.
15 Lord, you have made our nation larger. You have made our nation larger and you have shown how great you are. You have made all the borders of our land grow bigger.
The Sadducees ask Jesus a question
18 Also, some Sadducees came to Jesus. Sadducees do not believe that anyone becomes alive again after they die.[a] They wanted to ask Jesus a question.
19 ‘Teacher,’ they said to him, ‘Moses wrote these things for us in the Bible: If a man dies without children, his brother must marry the man's wife. Then their children will be called the children of the brother who died. 20 But once there were seven brothers. The oldest brother married a woman. But he died before they had any children. 21 So the second brother married her. He also died without children. Then the third brother married this woman. 22 And the same thing happened to all seven brothers. They all died but they had no children. After all this, the woman also died. 23 You teach that at some time dead people will become alive again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’
24 Jesus said to the Sadducees, ‘You are very wrong. This is because you do not know the Bible. And you do not know how powerful God is. 25 All people who have died will become alive again one day. But then men and women will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 But God does make dead people alive again! You have read what Moses wrote about the bush in the wilderness. There, God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.”[b] 27 God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive. So you see, you are very wrong.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.