Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
65 You have done good things for your servant,
as you have promised, Lord.
66 Teach me wisdom and knowledge
because I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did wrong,
but now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and you do what is good.
Teach me your demands.
69 Proud people have made up lies about me,
but I will follow your orders with all my heart.
70 Those people have no feelings,
but I love your teachings.
71 It was good for me to suffer
so I would learn your demands.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
The Day of Cleansing
16 Now two of Aaron’s sons had died while offering incense to the Lord, and after that time the Lord spoke to Moses. 2 The Lord said to him, “Tell your brother Aaron that there are times when he cannot go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place where the Ark is. If he goes in when I appear in a cloud over the lid on the Ark, he will die.
3 “This is how Aaron may enter the Most Holy Place: Before he enters, he must offer a bull for a sin offering and a male sheep for a whole burnt offering. 4 He must put on the holy linen inner robe, with the linen underclothes next to his body. His belt will be the cloth belt, and he will wear the linen turban. These are holy clothes, so he must bathe his body in water before he puts them on.
5 “Aaron must take from the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one male sheep for a burnt offering.
20 “When Aaron has finished making the Most Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar ready for service to the Lord, he will offer the living goat. 21 He will put both his hands on the head of the living goat, and he will confess over it all the sins and crimes of Israel. In this way Aaron will put the people’s sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert, and a man who has been appointed will lead the goat away. 22 So the goat will carry on itself all the people’s sins to a lonely place in the desert. The man who leads the goat will let it loose there.
23 “Then Aaron will enter the Meeting Tent and take off the linen clothes he had put on before he went into the Most Holy Place; he must leave these clothes there. 24 He will bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his regular clothes. Then he will come out and offer the whole burnt offering for himself and for the people, to remove sins from himself and the people so they will belong to the Lord. 25 Then he will burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 “The person who led the goat, the goat to remove sins, into the desert must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that, he may come back into the camp.
27 “The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make it ready for service to the Lord, must be taken outside the camp; the animals’ skins, bodies, and intestines will be burned in the fire. 28 Then the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water. After that, he may come back into the camp.
The Power of Faith
18 Early the next morning, as Jesus was going back to the city, he became hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree beside the road, Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree, only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit.” The tree immediately dried up.
20 When his followers saw this, they were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”
21 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree and even more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.