Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 Teach us to use wisely
all the time we have.
13 Help us, Lord! Don't wait!
Pity your servants.
14 When morning comes,
let your love satisfy
all our needs.
Then we can celebrate
and be glad for what time
we have left.
15 Make us happy for as long
as you caused us trouble
and sorrow.
16 Do wonderful things for us,
your servants,
and show your mighty power
to our children.
17 Our Lord and our God,
treat us with kindness
and let all go well for us.
Please let all go well!
The Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20.1-17)
5 Moses called together the people of Israel and said:
Today I am telling you the laws and teachings that you must follow, so listen carefully. 2 The Lord our God made an agreement with our nation at Mount Sinai.[a] 3 That agreement wasn't only with[b] our ancestors but with us, who are here today. 4 The Lord himself spoke to you out of the fire, 5 but you were afraid of the fire and refused to go up the mountain. So I spoke with the Lord for you, then I told you that he had said:
6 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.
7 Do not worship any god except me.
8 (A) Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 9 (B) Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me and worship idols, I will punish your families for three or four generations. 10 But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.
11 (C) Do not misuse my name.[c] I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.
12 (D) Show respect for the Sabbath Day—it belongs to me. 13 (E) You have six days when you can do your work, 14 but the seventh day of the week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your oxen or donkeys or any other animal, not even those foreigners who live in your towns. And don't make your slaves do any work. 15 This special day of rest will remind you that I reached out my mighty arm and rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
16 (F) Respect your father and mother, and you will live a long and successful life in the land I am giving you.
17 (G) Do not murder.
18 (H) Be faithful in marriage.
19 (I) Do not steal.
20 (J) Do not tell lies about others.
21 (K) Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else.
A Rest for God's People
7 (A) It is just as the Holy Spirit says,
“If you hear God's voice today,
8 don't be stubborn!
Don't rebel like those people
who were tested
in the desert.
* 9 [a] For forty years your ancestors
tested God and saw
the things he did.
10 “Then God got tired of them
and said,
‘You people never
show good sense,
and you don't understand
what I want you to do.’
11 God became angry
and told the people,
‘You will never enter
my place of rest!’ ”
12 My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. 13 You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today.” If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. 14 We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. 15 (B) The Scriptures say,
“If you hear his voice today,
don't be stubborn
like those who rebelled.”
16 (C) Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 Who were the people that made God angry for 40 years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? 18 And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? 19 We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith.
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