Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (A)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the (B)city of our God, His (C)holy mountain.
2 (D)Beautiful in elevation, (E)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (F)city of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a (G)stronghold.
4 For, lo, the (H)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (I)terrified, they [a]fled in alarm.
6 [b]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of (J)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (K)east wind
You (L)break the (M)ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will (N)establish her forever. [c]Selah.
9 We have thought on (O)Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (P)name, O God,
So is Your (Q)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (R)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount (S)Zion be glad,
Let the (T)daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her (U)towers;
13 Consider her (V)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may (W)tell it to the next generation.
14 For [d]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (X)guide us [e]until death.
Promise of Restoration
14 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your [a]relatives, [b]your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; this land has been given (A)us as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a (B)sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will (C)gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 When they come there, they will (D)remove all its (E)detestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 And I will (F)give them one heart, and put a new spirit within [c]them. And I will take the (G)heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a (H)heart of flesh, 20 that they may (I)walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be (J)My people, and I shall be their God. 21 [d]But as for those whose hearts go after their (K)detestable things and abominations, I will (L)bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.
22 Then the cherubim (M)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and (N)the glory of the God of Israel [e]hovered over them. 23 The (O)glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and (P)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. 24 And the (Q)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles [f]in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen [g](R)left me. 25 Then I (S)told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
12 Now we (A)have received, not the spirit of (B)the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, (C)not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [a]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
14 But [b]a (D)natural man (E)does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (F)foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually [c]appraised. 15 But he who is (G)spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For (H)who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But (I)we have the mind of Christ.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.