Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Uses Cyrus
45 Thus says the Lord to (A)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right (B)hand,
To (C)subdue nations before him
And [a]to (D)loose the loins of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and (E)make the [b]rough places smooth;
I will (F)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron (G)bars.
3 “I will give you the [c](H)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The Lord, the God of Israel, who (I)calls you by your name.
4 “For the sake of (J)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also (K)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have (L)not known Me.
5 “I am the Lord, and (M)there is no other;
(N)Besides Me there is no God.
I will [d](O)gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 That [e](P)men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is (Q)no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
7 The One (R)forming light and (S)creating darkness,
Causing [f]well-being and (T)creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these.
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (A)Sing to the Lord a (B)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(C)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (D)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (E)great is the Lord and (F)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (G)feared (H)above all gods.
5 For (I)all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But (J)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (K)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
10 Say among the nations, “(A)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (B)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (C)judge the peoples with [a]equity.”
11 Let the (D)heavens be glad, and let the (E)earth rejoice;
Let (F)the sea [b]roar, and [c]all it contains;
12 Let the (G)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (H)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (I)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(J)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
Thanksgiving for These Believers
1 (A)Paul and (B)Silvanus and (C)Timothy,
To the (D)church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: (E)Grace to you and peace.
2 (F)We give thanks to God always for all of you, (G)making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly bearing in mind your (H)work of faith and labor of (I)love and [a](J)steadfastness of hope [b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of (K)our God and Father, 4 knowing, (L)brethren beloved by God, (M)His choice of you; 5 for our (N)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also (O)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with (P)full conviction; just as you know (Q)what kind of men we [c]proved to be among you for your sake. 6 You also became (R)imitators of us and of the Lord, (S)having received (T)the word in much tribulation with the (U)joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in (V)Macedonia and in (W)Achaia. 8 For (X)the word of the Lord has (Y)sounded forth from you, not only in (Z)Macedonia and (AA)Achaia, but also (AB)in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a [d](AC)reception we had [e]with you, and how you (AD)turned to God (AE)from [f]idols to serve [g](AF)a living and true God, 10 and to (AG)wait for His Son from [h]heaven, whom He (AH)raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who (AI)rescues us from (AJ)the wrath to come.
Tribute to Caesar
15 (A)Then the Pharisees went and [a]plotted together how they might trap Him [b]in what He said. 16 And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the (B)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and [c]defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 Tell us then, what do You think? Is it [d]lawful to give a (C)poll-tax to (D)Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their [e]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the (E)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a [f]denarius. 20 And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “(F)Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and (G)leaving Him, they went away.
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