Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a special song for the music leader. The sons of Korah wrote it.

A prayer when you are away from home^[a]

The river from the temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple. There I saw water that was pouring out from under the entrance. It was pouring towards the east. (The front entrance of the temple opened towards the east.) The river of water came from under the south side of the temple. It went past the south side of the altar. ² The man took me out through the north gate of the temple. We went around the outside to the gate that opens towards the east. There I saw a small stream of water. It was coming out from the south side of the gate.

³ The man went towards the east. He measured 500 metres in that direction. He took me through the water there. The water was as high as my ankles. ⁴ Then he measured another 500 metres along the stream. He took me through the water again. Here, the water was as high as my knees. He measured another 500 metres. He took me through the water and it was now as high as my belt. ⁵ Then he measured another 500 metres. Here the water had become a deep river. It was too deep for me to go across. Nobody could walk through it. They would need to swim.

⁶ The man said to me, ‘Son of man, you must remember what you have seen.’

Then he took me back to the river's edge. ⁷ When I got there, I saw very many trees. They were on each side of the river. ⁸ He said to me, ‘This river of water goes towards the land in the east. It goes into the valley of the Jordan River. Then the water goes into the Salt Sea. When it goes into the sea there, the water becomes pure instead of salty.^{[a] 9} Wherever the river goes, many kinds of animals and fish will live. There will be lots of fish in the Salt Sea because the water that goes in there will make it pure. There will be many living things in places where the river goes. ¹⁰ Men will stand on the edge of the sea to catch fish. They will use their nets to catch fish, all the way from En-Gedi to En-Eglaim. They will catch many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. ¹¹ But the water in the pools and the wet places around the Salt Sea will not become pure. There will still be salt for people there. ¹² All kinds of fruit trees will live on each side of the river. Their leaves will never become dry. They will always give fruit every month. This is because the water that feeds them comes from the holy temple. The fruit from these trees will provide food. And their leaves will make sick people well.’

Christians must continue to trust God

¹⁷ But as for you, my friends, remember the message that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ have taught you. They spoke about what would happen in future times. ¹⁸ They said to you, ‘In the last days of this world, some people will laugh at God's message.^[a] They will say that it is silly to obey God. Instead, they will do the bad things that they want to do. Those things do not please God.’

¹⁹ It is people like this who cause you to argue with one another, so that you belong to separate groups. Their thoughts belong to this world. They do not have God's Spirit in them.

²⁰ But you, my friends, have believed the message that comes from God himself. So you must help one another to trust God more and more. Pray to God with the help of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Continue to live in a way that shows God's love. As you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come, remember that he is very kind. Because of that, you will have life with God for ever.

²² Help those people who do not know whether to trust God. Be kind to them. ²³ Some people are in great danger. You must save them from the fire of God's punishment.^[b] Also be kind to people who have done wicked and disgusting things. But be careful! Do not let their sins make you bad too.

Jude thanks God

²⁴ God is able to keep you safe so that you continue to trust him. One day you will stand in front of him and you will be very happy. God will bring you to that place and you will be completely good. You will be able to stand near to God, who shines with beautiful light. ²⁵ He is the only God. He is the one who saves us because of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we praise him! We say that he is very great! He rules with power and authority. This has always been true. It is true now, and it will be true for ever. Amen!