Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Hymn of Praise
12 And (A)in that day you will say:
“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
(B)‘For (C)Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’ ”
3 Therefore with joy you will draw (D)water
From the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day you will say:
(E)“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
(F)Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His (G)name is exalted.
5 (H)Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
6 (I)Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is (J)the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a (A)prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the Lord saw it, and [a]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 (B)He saw that there was no man,
And (C)wondered that there was no intercessor;
(D)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 (E)For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 (F)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 (G)So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in (H)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
20 “The(I) Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
21 “As(J) for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
The Coming of the Kingdom(A)
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 (B)nor will they say, [a]‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, (C)the kingdom of God is [b]within you.”
22 Then He said to the disciples, (D)“The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 (E)And they will say to you, [c]‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 (F)For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 (G)But first He must suffer many things and be (H)rejected by this generation. 26 (I)And as it (J)was in the (K)days of (L)Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the (M)day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and (N)destroyed them all. 28 (O)Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on (P)the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man (Q)is revealed.
31 “In that day, he (R)who is on the housetop, and his [d]goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 (S)Remember Lot’s wife. 33 (T)Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 (U)I tell you, in that night there will be two [e]men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 (V)Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 [f]Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, (W)“Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.