Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
A psalm of David. A song for giving the Temple to the Lord.
30 I will praise you, Lord,
because you rescued me.
You did not let my enemies laugh at me.
2 Lord, my God, I prayed to you,
and you healed me.
3 You lifted me out of the grave;
you spared me from going down to the place of the dead.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, you who belong to him;
praise his holy name.
5 His anger lasts only a moment,
but his kindness lasts for a lifetime.
Crying may last for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 When I felt safe, I said,
“I will never fear.”
7 Lord, in your kindness you made my mountain safe.
But when you turned away, I was frightened.
8 I called to you, Lord,
and asked you to have mercy on me.
9 I said, “What good will it do if I die
or if I go down to the grave?
Dust cannot praise you;
it cannot speak about your truth.
10 Lord, hear me and have mercy on me.
Lord, help me.”
11 You changed my sorrow into dancing.
You took away my clothes of sadness,
and clothed me in happiness.
12 I will sing to you and not be silent.
Lord, my God, I will praise you forever.
11 How terrible it will be for people who rise early in the morning
to look for strong drink,
who stay awake late at night,
becoming drunk with wine.
12 At their parties they have lyres, harps,
tambourines, flutes, and wine.
They don’t see what the Lord has done
or notice the work of his hands.
13 So my people will be captured and taken away,
because they don’t really know me.
All the great people will die of hunger,
and the common people will die of thirst.
14 So the place of the dead wants more and more people,
and it opens wide its mouth.
Jerusalem’s important people and common people will go down into it,
with their happy and noisy ones.
15 So the common people and the great people will be brought down;
those who are proud will be humbled.
16 The Lord All-Powerful will receive glory by judging fairly;
the holy God will show himself holy by doing what is right.
17 Then the sheep will go anywhere they want,
and lambs will feed on the land that rich people once owned.
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“The Amen,[a] the faithful and true witness, the ruler of all God has made, says this: 15 I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! 16 But because you are lukewarm—neither hot, nor cold—I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich, and I have become wealthy and do not need anything.’ But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you to buy from me gold made pure in fire so you can be truly rich. Buy from me white clothes so you can be clothed and so you can cover your shameful nakedness. Buy from me medicine to put on your eyes so you can truly see.
19 “I correct and punish those whom I love. So be eager to do right, and change your hearts and lives. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me.
21 “Those who win the victory will sit with me on my throne in the same way that I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.