Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹¹ The earth also was corrupt ^(A)before God, and the earth was ^(B)filled with violence. ¹² So God ^(C)looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for ^(D)all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

The Ark Prepared^(E)

¹³ And God said to Noah, ^(F)“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; ^(G)and behold, ^(H)I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make ^[a]rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred ^[b]cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. ^17 (I)And behold, I Myself am bringing ^(J)floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall ^(K)die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My ^(L)covenant with you; and ^(M)you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring ^(N)two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind ^(O)will come to you to keep them alive. ²¹ And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

^22 (P)Thus Noah did; ^(Q)according to all that ^(R)God commanded him, so he did.

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple^(A)

24 Then ^(B)Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, ^(C)not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age^(D)

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, ^(E)the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ^(F)“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: ^(G)“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For ^(H)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ^(I)and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of ^(J)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for ^[a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(K)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be ^(L)famines, ^[b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

^9 (M)“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then ^(N)many false prophets will rise up and ^(O)deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow ^(P)cold. ^13 (Q)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this ^(R)gospel of the kingdom ^(S)will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation^(T)

^15 (U)“Therefore when you see the ^(V)‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” ^(W)(whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But ^(X)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For ^(Y)then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; ^(Z)but for the ^[c]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.