Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 ‘The Lord God of Israel is a great God.
He has come to save his people. He has come to make them free.
69 He has sent a very strong person who will save us.[a]
This person comes from the family of his servant, King David.
70 Long ago, God promised that he would do this.
He gave his own prophets this message to speak.
71 God will save us from our enemies.
He will save us from everyone that hates us.
72 He has promised to be kind to our ancestors.
He will do the things that he promised in his holy covenant.
73 Yes, he will remember the strong promises that he spoke to Abraham.[b]
74 God said, “I will keep you safe from your enemies.
Then you can serve me and not be afraid.
75 You can live in a way that is good and right.
You can do this all your lives.” ’[c]
76 Zechariah then spoke to John:
‘You, my child, will be called a prophet of the powerful God who is over all.
You will go in front of the Lord to prepare a way for him.
77 You will tell God's people how God can save them.
They have done wrong things but God will forgive them.
78 Our God will forgive us because he is very kind.
He will send someone from the highest place.
When this person comes, it will be like the sunrise for us.[d]
79 He will bring light to people who are living without God.
It is like those people are living in the dark. They are afraid to die.
But he will shine on them.
He will show us how to live so that we will not be afraid.’[e]
5 At that time, I will come among you as your judge. I will speak clearly against those who have done wrong things. I will punish the magicians, the adulterers and those who tell lies against other people. I will punish those people who are cruel to their workers, or they deceive widows or children who have no family. And I will punish those who do not help foreigners who live among them. People who do those things show that they do not respect me.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
The Israelites are robbing God
6 ‘I am the Lord and I do not change. Because of my promises to my people, I have not destroyed you, descendants of Jacob. 7 I have told you my commands. But you do not listen to me any longer. You have not obeyed me, even since the time of your ancestors. Now, return to me! Then I will return to bless you.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
‘But you ask, “How do we return to you?”
8 I say to you, “A man should not rob God. But you are robbing me.”
But you ask, “How do we rob you?”
I say, “You do not give to me the tithes and the offerings that you should give.” 9 Yes, all of you are robbing me. The whole nation of Israel is guilty. So you will receive the punishment of a curse.
10 Now you must bring the whole tithe that belongs to me.[a] Store it in my temple, so that there will be food in my house.[b] Obey me and then see what I will do.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
‘You will see how much I will bless you! You will not have enough room to store all the good things that I will give to you. I will pour blessings out of the sky like rain. 11 I will stop insects from eating your crops. The grapes will not fall from your vines before they are ready to eat. 12 You will be happy to live in your land. The people of all the other nations will see that God has blessed you.’
That is what the Lord Almighty says.
Paul has served God in prison
12 My friends, I want you to know this. The trouble that has happened to me has helped more people to know about God's good news. 13 I am in a prison because I am Christ's servant.[a] The soldiers in the king's house and all the people here know that. 14 Also, because I am in a prison, most of the other believers here trust the Lord even more. The Lord has made them brave, so that they are not afraid to speak God's message to people.
15 It is true that some of these Christians are jealous of me. They want to show that they are better than me. That is why they tell people the message about Christ. But other Christians speak about Christ because they want to help me. 16 They tell people about him because they love me. They know that God has put me here in this prison. And he wants me to show people that the good news is true. 17 Those other people speak about Christ because they want to seem important. They do not really want to help people. They just want to cause trouble for me while I am here in this prison. 18 But it does not matter to me! All of them are telling people about Christ. That is the most important thing. Whether they speak because of wrong reasons or because of right reasons, they are speaking the message about Christ! Because of that, I am happy.
Yes, I will continue to be happy.
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