Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Song of Praise to God
12 At that time you will say:
“I praise you, Lord!
You were angry with me,
but you are not angry with me now!
You have comforted me.
2 God is the one who saves me;
I will trust him and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord gives me strength and makes me sing.
He has saved me.”
3 You will receive your salvation with joy
as you would draw water from a well.
4 At that time you will say,
“Praise the Lord and worship him.
Tell everyone what he has done
and how great he is.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done great things.
Let all the world know what he has done.
6 Shout and sing for joy, you people of Jerusalem,
because the Holy One of Israel does great things before your eyes.”
15 Truth cannot be found anywhere,
and people who refuse to do evil are attacked.
The Lord looked and could not find any justice,
and he was displeased.
16 He could not find anyone to help the people,
and he was surprised that there was no one to help.
So he used his own power to save the people;
his own goodness gave him strength.
17 He covered himself with goodness like armor.
He put the helmet of salvation on his head.
He put on his clothes for punishing
and wrapped himself in the coat of his strong love.
18 The Lord will pay back his enemies for what they have done.
He will show his anger to those who were against him;
he will punish the people in faraway places as they deserve.
19 Then people from the west will fear the Lord,
and people from the east will fear his glory.
The Lord will come quickly like a fast-flowing river,
driven by the breath of the Lord.
20 “Then a Savior will come to Jerusalem
and to the people of Jacob who have turned from sin,”
says the Lord.
21 The Lord says, “This is my agreement with these people: My Spirit and my words that I give you will never leave you or your children or your grandchildren, now and forever.”
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within[a] you.”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or, ‘Look, here he is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24 “When the Son of Man comes again, he will shine like lightning, which flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by the people of this time. 26 When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as it was when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving their children to be married until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all. 28 It will be the same as during the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom,[b] fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day, a person who is on the roof and whose belongings are in the house should not go inside to get them. A person who is in the field should not go back home. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.[c] 33 Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. [ 36 Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.]”[d]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.