⁴ The camp followers with them had a strong craving, and the Israelites also wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat!^{(A) 5} We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic,^{(B) 6} but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”^(C)

¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased.^{(A) 11} So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a wet nurse carries a nursing child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’?^{(B) 13} Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat!’^{(C) 14} I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me.^{(D) 15} If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”^(E)

The Seventy Elders

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting and have them take their place there with you.^{(F) 17} I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.^(G)

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and placed them all around the tent.^{(A) 25} Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders, and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.^(B)

²⁶ Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, so they prophesied in the camp.^{(C) 27} And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men,^[a] said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”^{(D) 29} But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”^(E)

Psalm 19

God’s Glory in Creation and the Law

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.^{(A) 8} Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.^{(B) 9} Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.^(C)

Warning against Judging Another

¹¹ Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another speaks evil against the law and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.^{(D) 12} There is one lawgiver and judge^[a] who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?^(E)

⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.^{(A) 8} You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.^{[a](B) 9} Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!^{(C) 10} As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.^(D)

¹² Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.^[b]

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.^{(E) 14} Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.^{(F) 15} The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.^{(G) 17} Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.^{(H) 18} Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest.^(I)

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth^[c] and is brought back by another, ²⁰ you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s^[d] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.^(J)

Another Exorcist

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,^[a] and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”^{(A) 39} But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us.^{(B) 41} For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.^(C)

Temptations to Sin

⁴² “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me^[b] to sin,^[c] it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.^{(D) 43} If your hand causes you to sin,^[d] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,^[e] to the unquenchable fire.^{[f](E) 45} And if your foot causes you to sin,^[g] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.^{[h][i](F) 47} And if your eye causes you to sin,^[j] tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,^{[k](G) 48} where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.^(H)