Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Trust in the Lord
5 The Lord says,
‘I will curse those who only trust people to help them.
They think that human strength will save them,
and they turn away from me, the Lord.
6 They will be like a bush that grows in the desert.
It grows in a place where nobody can live.
The ground is very dry and is spoiled by salt.
Even when good times come,
those people will not receive any good thing.
7 The Lord blesses people who trust in him.
They know that the Lord will help them.
8 They will be like trees that grow beside a river.
Their roots reach into the water.
When the sun is hot, they are not afraid.
Their leaves continue to be green.
They give fruit each year,
even when there is no rain.
9 A person's own mind deceives him,
more than anything else does.
Nobody can change it to be better.
Nobody completely understands it.
10 But I, the Lord, look inside a person's mind.
I see what he thinks and what he feels.
I see how everyone lives,
and I see the things that they do.
I give to each one what he deserves.
The two paths[a]
1 If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do,
if he does not join with sinners,
if he does not meet with those who laugh at God,
God has blessed that person!
2 He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord.[b]
He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night.
3 He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water.
It gives its fruit at the right season.
Its leaves do not fall off.
Everything that person does will have a good result.
4 But wicked people are as empty as chaff.
The wind blows them away.[c]
5 So they will not go free when God judges them.
Sinners cannot join with God's people,
the people who are right with God.[d]
6 The Lord takes care of people who respect him.
But wicked people are living in a way that will take them to a bad end.
People do live again after death
12 We all speak this message: God raised Christ up after his death. But some of you say that dead people do not live again. 13 Anyone who says that is wrong. If dead people do not live again, then Christ did not rise up after his death. He would still be dead. 14 And if God did not raise Christ up, it does no good for us to tell God's good news to people. There would be nothing for you to believe. 15 We would have been telling lies about God, because we told you that God raised Christ up after his death. But if dead people do not live again, that would not be true.
16 So, if dead people never rise to a new life, then Christ himself did not rise after his death. 17 And if Christ did not rise, then you have believed a false message. God would still say that you are guilty, because of your sins.
18 Also, think about those people who believed in Christ but they have already died. If dead people do not rise to a new life, those people would have no life with God. 19 As believers, we trust Christ to lead us into a new life after death. But if we only trust him to help us in this life, we should be very sad. Everybody should be very sorry for us, more than for anyone else.
20 But it is really true that God raised Christ up after his death. He rose up to go to God in heaven. He was the first, so we know that believers who die will also rise up.
Jesus teaches people
17 After Jesus had chosen these 12 men, they all came down the mountain. He stopped and he stood on a flat place. A large crowd of his disciples stood around him. There were also many people from Jerusalem, and from other towns of Judea, and from places on the coast near Tyre and Sidon. 18 These people had all come to hear Jesus teach. Those people who were ill wanted him to make them well. He also made well those people who had bad spirits. 19 All the people were trying to touch him, because he was using great power to make each person well.
20 Jesus looked at his disciples. He spoke this message to them:
‘Happy are you people that are poor. The kingdom of God belongs to you.[a]
21 Happy are you people that are hungry now. God will feed you until you are full.[b]
Happy are you people that are crying now. Later, you will laugh.[c]
22 People may hate you, because you believe in me, the Son of Man. They may say bad things against you and make you go away from them. They may say that you are very bad. When that happens, be happy. 23 God will prepare many good things for you in heaven. So be very happy when people do these bad things to you! Jump up and down because you are so happy. Their ancestors did the same bad things to God's prophets long ago.
24 Listen, you that are rich.
You have a comfortable life now, but it will be very bad for you.
25 Listen, you that are full with food now.
It will be very bad for you and you will be hungry.
Listen, you that are laughing now.
It will be very bad for you. You will be sad and you will cry.
26 If people always say good things about you now, it will be very bad for you. Their ancestors also said good things about the false prophets long ago.’
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