Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

We trust God to help us^[a]

⁷ When Jotham heard the news of what had happened, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim. He stood there and he shouted to the people, ‘Leaders of Shechem, listen to me! Then perhaps God will listen to you.

⁸ One day, the trees decided to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, “Be our king.” ⁹ But the olive tree replied, “My oil pleases men and even the gods. I will not stop making my oil so that I can rule over all you other trees!”

¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, “Come and be our king.” ¹¹ The fig tree replied, “I will not stop making my good, sweet figs so that I can rule over you.”

¹² Then the trees said to the vine, “Come and be our king.” ¹³ But the vine answered, “Wine from my grapes makes gods and people happy. I will not stop making wine so that I can rule over you.”

¹⁴ Finally, the trees said to the thorn bush, “Come and be our king.” ¹⁵ The thorn bush said to the trees, “If you really want to choose me as your king, come here. Hide under my branches to keep safe. If not, I will cause fire to come out from the thorn bush. It will burn up all the big cedar trees in Lebanon!”^[a]

People who are against Christ

¹⁸ My children, the world will soon end.^[a] You have heard that the enemy of Christ will appear. You can see that many enemies of Christ have already appeared. This shows us that the world will end soon. ¹⁹ These people used to be in our group of believers. But they left us. They never really belonged to our group. If they had been true believers, they would have remained with us. When they left us, it showed clearly that none of them really belonged to us.

²⁰ But Christ, the Holy One, has given you the Holy Spirit. As a result, you all know what is true. ²¹ That is why I am writing to you. It is not because you do not yet know God's true message. I am writing to you because you do know that true message. And you can be sure that there are no lies in it.

²² Who is the one who tells the worst lies? It is anyone who says that Jesus is not the Messiah. A person like that is the enemy of Christ. He is speaking against God, the Father, and against Jesus, his Son. ²³ Anyone who says that Jesus is not God's Son does not belong to the Father. But anyone who accepts Jesus as the Son of God also belongs to the Father.^[b]

²⁴ As for you, always remember the true message that you heard at the beginning. If you continue to believe that message, you will continue to live with the Son and with the Father. ²⁵ That is the real life that continues for ever. And that is what God has promised to give to us.

²⁶ Some people are trying to lead you away from God's true message. I am writing these things to you so that you know about these people. ²⁷ But Christ has given the Holy Spirit to you, and he continues to help you. So you do not need people to teach you what is true. The Holy Spirit himself teaches you everything about God's message. He helps you to know what is true. He does not tell you any lies. So you must remember what he has taught you. Continue to live together with Christ.

²⁸ Yes, my children, continue to live with Christ. Then we will not be ashamed when he returns to this world. We will not be afraid to meet him.