Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A song to sing as we climb.
The Lord has done great things for us![a]
126 When the Lord turned us round,
so that we enjoyed a good life in Zion again,
we thought that we were dreaming!
2 At that time, we laughed a lot.
We shouted because we were so happy!
People in other countries said to each other,
‘The Lord has done great things for them!’
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us.
So we are very happy.
4 Lord, please bless us like before.
That will be like streams of water that return to the desert.[b]
5 When people went out to plant their seeds,
they were crying.
But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!
6 People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant.[c]
But when they carry their crops back home,
they will shout because they are so happy![d]
18 At that time, five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan.[a] The people in those cities will promise to obey the Lord Almighty. One of the cities will have the name ‘Sun City’.
19 At that time, there will be an altar in the middle of Egypt's land, where people will worship the Lord. There will also be a tall stone for the Lord at Egypt's border. 20 Those two things will be signs to tell everyone in Egypt about the Lord Almighty. Because of those signs, the Egyptians will remember that the Lord is powerful. When their enemies are cruel to them, they will call out to the Lord for help. Then he will send a strong saviour to rescue them. 21 The Lord will cause the Egyptians to know him. They will agree to serve him. They will worship the Lord with sacrifices and offerings. They will make promises to the Lord, and they will do what they have promised to do. 22 The Lord himself will punish the Egyptians. But after that, they will turn to the Lord. He will answer their prayers, and he will make them well again.
23 At that time, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. People from Assyria will travel to Egypt and Egyptians will travel to Assyria. Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
24 At that time, Israel will join Egypt and Assyria as a third important nation. They will bring blessing to the whole world. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them all. He will say, ‘I will bless Egypt, who are now my people. I will bless Assyria, the people that I have made. And I will bless Israel, the people that I have chosen to belong to me.’
2 I pray that God will help you and give you peace in your minds more and more. You will grow as believers because you know God and you know Jesus, our Lord.
3 God is very powerful because he is God. He has used that power to help us. He has given us everything that we need to live in a good way. We can do things that make God happy. This is possible because now we know him. God has chosen us to be his people because he is very great and very good. 4 Because of this, God has promised that he will do very great and valuable things for us. As a result, you can do what is right, like God does. The people who belong to this world want to do bad things. Those bad things make them become worse and worse. But God gives you the power to be free from all that.
5 God has done all this to help you. So now that you believe in Christ, you must grow as believers. Try very much to do always what is good. Then you should grow to know God more and more. 6 Then you should learn to control yourselves properly. That is not all. You should also learn to be patient and brave. And you should live in a way that pleases God. 7 You should not only please God, but you should be kind to other believers. You should not only love other believers, but you must also love all people.
8 You should continue to grow as believers in all these ways. Then it will show that you really know our Lord Jesus Christ. People will see that your life has good results. 9 But some people do not live in these good ways. They do not think that these things are important. They are like blind people. They cannot really see anything properly. They have forgotten that God has made them clean from all the sins that they did in past times.
10 So, my friends, try very much to live in a way that pleases God. God has chosen you to be his own people. Show that you really do belong to him! If you do these things, you will never turn away from God. 11 Then God will bring you safely into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that continues for ever. Jesus Christ is our Saviour and God will be happy to welcome you into his kingdom.
12 You already know these things. You know that they are completely true. But because they are important, I will continue to tell you about them again and again. 13 While I am still alive on this earth I will continue to make sure that you remember them. I think that it is right for me to do that. 14 I know that I will die soon. Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that clearly. 15 After I am no longer with you, I want you still to remember what I have told you. So I will make sure that you have something to help you not to forget.
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