Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
To the Chief Musician; set to the [a]Philistine lute. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Shout for joy to the God of Jacob (Israel).
2
Raise a song, sound the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
3
Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
At the [b]full moon, on our feast day.
4
For this is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5
He established it for a testimony in [c]Joseph
When He went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard the language [of One whom] I did not know, saying,
6
“I removed the burden from his shoulder;
His hands were freed from the basket.
7
“You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(A) Selah.
8
“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
9
“Let there be no strange god among you,
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10
“I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
Laws of Religious Festivals
23 The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The appointed times (established feasts) of the Lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:
The Sabbath
3 ‘For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation (calling together). You shall not do any work [on that day]; it is the Sabbath of the Lord [a]wherever you may be.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4 ‘These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month [b]at twilight. 6 The Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.(A) 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation (calling together); you shall not do any laborious work [on that day]. 8 But you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work [on that day].’”
31 What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?(A) 32 He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself]. 34 Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us. 35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of [a]Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written and forever remains written,
“For Your sake we are put to death all day long;
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.”(B)
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.