Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord Is Good to His People
106 Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. 2 Who can put into words the great works of the Lord? Who can make known all His praise? 3 Happy are those who are faithful in being fair and who always do what is right and good!
4 O Lord, remember me when You show favor to Your people. Visit me also when You save them. 5 So I may share in the well-being of Your chosen ones. So I may share in the joy of Your nation, and be proud of Your people.
6 We have sinned like our fathers. We have done wrong. We have been sinful in our actions.
13 But they soon forgot His works. They did not wait to hear what He wanted them to do. 14 They wanted many things in the desert, and they tempted God there. 15 So He gave them what they wanted, but He allowed their souls to become weak because of it.
16 They were jealous of Moses in the place where they set up their tents. And they were jealous of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. 17 So the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan. It closed over the group of Abiram. 18 And a fire came among their followers. It burned up the sinful people.
19 They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a god of gold. 20 They traded their shining-greatness for something that looked like a bull that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God Who saved them, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22 powerful works in the land of Ham, and works that brought fear by the Red Sea. 23 So He said that He would destroy them. But Moses, His chosen one, stood in the way to keep His anger from destroying them.
47 O Lord our God, save us! Gather us from among the nations. And we will give thanks to Your holy name and find honor in Your praise. 48 Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever. Let all the people say, “Let it be so!” Praise the Lord!
Israel Not to Worship False Gods
15 “So watch yourselves and be careful. For you saw no body on the day the Lord spoke to you in the fire at Mount Sinai. 16 Do not become sinful and make a false god for yourselves that looks like a body or object, like a male or female, 17 or like an animal on the earth, or a bird with wings that flies in the sky, 18 or like anything that moves on the ground, or like any fish in the water below the earth. 19 Be careful not to lift up your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and moon and stars, all the things of heaven, and be pulled away and worship them and serve them. The Lord your God has given these things to all the nations under the whole heavens. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron stove, out of Egypt, to be His own people, as you are this day.
19 This shows you have received loving-favor when you are even punished for doing what is right because of your trust in God. 20 What good is it if, when you are beaten for doing something wrong, you do not try to get out of it? But if you are beaten when you have done what is right, and do not try to get out of it, God is pleased. 21 These things are all a part of the Christian life to which you have been called. Christ suffered for us. This shows us we are to follow in His steps. 22 He never sinned. No lie or bad talk ever came from His lips. 23 When people spoke against Him, He never spoke back. When He suffered from what people did to Him, He did not try to pay them back. He left it in the hands of the One Who is always right in judging. 24 He carried our sins in His own body when He died on a cross. In doing this, we may be dead to sin and alive to all that is right and good. His wounds have healed you! 25 You were like lost sheep. But now you have come back to Him Who is your Shepherd and the One Who cares for your soul.
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