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The Future House of God

2The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
³   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more.

Judgement Pronounced on Arrogance

⁵ O house of Jacob,
   come, let us walk
   in the light of the Lord!

³³ Look, the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
   will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest trees will be cut down,
   and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴ He will hack down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
   and Lebanon with its majestic trees^* will fall.

The Peaceful Kingdom

11A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
   and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
   the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
   the spirit of counsel and might,
   the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
   or decide by what his ears hear;
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
   and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
   and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
   and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb,
   the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
   and a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze,
   their young shall lie down together;
   and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
   and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy
   on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
   as the waters cover the sea.

The Valley of Dry Bones

37The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ ⁴Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

Psalm 4

1  Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; ♦︎
   you set me at liberty when I was in trouble;
      have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2  How long will you nobles dishonour my glory; ♦︎
   how long will you love vain things and seek after falsehood?
3  But know that the Lord has shown me his marvellous kindness; ♦︎
   when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.
4  Stand in awe, and sin not; ♦︎
   commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness ♦︎
   and put your trust in the Lord.
6  There are many that say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ ♦︎
   Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.
7  You have put gladness in my heart, ♦︎
   more than when their corn and wine and oil increase.
8  In peace I will lie down and sleep, ♦︎
   for it is you Lord, only, who make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 47

God’s Rule over the Nations

To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
¹ Clap your hands, all you peoples;
   shout to God with loud songs of joy.
² For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
   a great king over all the earth.
³ He subdued peoples under us,
   and nations under our feet.
⁴ He chose our heritage for us,
   the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
          Selah

⁵ God has gone up with a shout,
   the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
   sing praises to our King, sing praises.
⁷ For God is the king of all the earth;
   sing praises with a psalm.^*

⁸ God is king over the nations;
   God sits on his holy throne.
⁹ The princes of the peoples gather
   as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
   he is highly exalted.

Psalm 93

The Majesty of God’s Rule

¹ The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;
   the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
²   your throne is established from of old;
   you are from everlasting.

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
   more majestic than the waves^* of the sea,
   majestic on high is the Lord!

⁵ Your decrees are very sure;
   holiness befits your house,
   O Lord, for evermore.

Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.
¹ When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^*
   we were like those who dream.
² Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
   and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
   ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
³ The Lord has done great things for us,
   and we rejoiced.

⁴ Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
   like the watercourses in the Negeb.
⁵ May those who sow in tears
   reap with shouts of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
   bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
   carrying their sheaves.

Psalm 130

Waiting for Divine Redemption

A Song of Ascents.
¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
²   Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my supplications!

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
   Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But there is forgiveness with you,
   so that you may be revered.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
   and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
   more than those who watch for the morning,
   more than those who watch for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
   For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
   and with him is great power to redeem.
⁸ It is he who will redeem Israel
   from all its iniquities.

God’s Love in Christ Jesus

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.^{* 35}Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

THE

Revelation

TO JOHN

Introduction and Salutation

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants^* what must soon take place; he made^* it known by sending his angel to his servant^* John, ²who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed^* us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and made^* us to be a kingdom, priests serving^* his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
⁷ Look! He is coming with the clouds;
   every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
   and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.

The Beatitudes

5When Jesus^* saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^* on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants^* any longer, because the servant^* does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.