Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for the King
72 O God, make the king right in what he decides. Make the king’s son right with You. 2 May he be right when he decides who is right and who is wrong and may he be fair to the poor. 3 Let mountains and hills bring peace to the people through what is right and good. 4 May he stand by those who are poor, save the children of those in need, and destroy the bad power over them.
5 May all the children-to-come fear You as long as the sun and the moon last. 6 May He come down like rain upon the cut grass, like rain that waters the earth. 7 In His days may all go well with those who are right and good. And may there be much peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who live in the desert will put their faces to the ground before Him. And those who hate Him will kiss the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. 11 Yes, let all kings fall down at His feet, and all nations serve Him.
12 For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. 13 He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. 14 He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes. 15 He will live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him. Prayer will be given for Him all the time. Let them honor Him all day long.
16 May there be much grain in the land on top of the mountains. May its fruit grow like the trees of Lebanon. And may those of the city grow like the grass of the earth. 17 May His name last forever. May His name become bigger as long as the sun shines. And let men respect themselves through Him. Let all nations honor Him.
18 Honor and thanks be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does great things. 19 And honor be to His great name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His shining-greatness. Let it be so.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
Daniel Tells the Meaning to the King
24 So Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had told to kill the wise men of Babylon. He went and said to him, “Do not kill the wise men of Babylon! Take me to the king, and I will tell him what his dream means.”
25 Then Arioch brought Daniel to the king in a hurry, and said to him, “I have found a man among those brought out of Judah who can tell the king the meaning of his dream!” 26 The king said to Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me the dream I had, and what it means?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, wonder-workers, or men who use secret ways can make this dream known to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who makes secrets known. And He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. This was the special dream you had while you were on your bed. 29 O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would happen in the future. And He Who makes secrets known has let you know what will happen. 30 But this secret has not been made known to me because I am wiser than any other living man. It was made known to me so that I can make it known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
31 “O king, you were looking and saw a great object. The object was large and very bright, and it was standing in front of you. It filled you with fear and wonder as you looked at it. 32 The object’s head was made of fine gold. Its breast and arms were made of silver. Its stomach and thighs were made of brass. 33 Its legs were made of iron, and its feet were part iron and part clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It fell and hit the large object on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like dust on the grain-floor in the summer. The wind carried the dust away so nothing was to be found. But the stone that hit the large object became a large mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you the nation, the power, the strength, and the honor. 38 In every place where people live, or the animals of the field, or the birds of the air, He has given them to you and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. 39 After you there will be another nation that is not as great as yours. A third nation of brass will come, which will rule over all the earth. 40 Then there will be a fourth nation, as strong as iron. Iron crushes and breaks all things. So, like iron breaks things to pieces, this nation will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw the feet and toes made of part clay and part iron, it will be a divided nation. But it will have some of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were made of part iron and part clay, so some of the nation will be strong and part of it will be weak. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, they will try to join with one another. But they will not stay together any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a nation which will never be destroyed. And it will never be taken by another people. It will crush and put an end to all these nations, but it will last forever. 45 You saw how a stone was cut out of the mountain by no human hands, and how it crushed the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has shown the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true. And I have given you its true meaning.”
Daniel Becomes Ruler of Babylon
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and gave honor to Daniel. He had a gift and special perfume brought to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “For sure your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and He makes hidden things known. For you have been able to make known this secret.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel much power and gave him many great gifts. He made him ruler over the whole land of Babylon and the head of all the wise men of Babylon. 49 And Daniel asked the king to put Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego as leaders over the land of Babylon, while Daniel stayed near the king.
Be Filled With the Spirit of God
15 So be careful how you live. Live as men who are wise and not foolish. 16 Make the best use of your time. These are sinful days. 17 Do not be foolish. Understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Do not get drunk with wine. That leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. 19 Tell of your joy to each other by singing the Songs of David and church songs. Sing in your heart to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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