Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to the God of Love
Of David.
103 All that I am, praise the Lord.
Everything in me, praise his holy name.
2 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Do not forget all his kindnesses.
3 The Lord forgives me for all my sins.
He heals all my diseases.
4 He saves my life from the grave.
He loads me with love and mercy.
5 He satisfies me with good things.
He makes me young again, like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are wronged by others.
7 He showed his ways to Moses
and his miracles to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
A Man Worked on the Sabbath
32 This happened when the Israelites were still in the desert. They found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the people. 34 They held the man under guard. They did not know what to do with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. All the people must kill him with stones outside the camp.” 36 So the people took him outside the camp. They killed him with stones as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Tassels
37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them this: ‘Tie several pieces of thread together. And tie them to the corners of your clothes. Put a blue thread in each one of these tassels. Wear them from now on. 39 You will have these tassels to look at. They will remind you of the Lord’s commands. Then you will obey them. And you won’t follow what your bodies want and what your eyes wish for. 40 Remember to obey all my commands. Then you will be God’s holy people. 41 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’”
3 Think about Jesus. He held on patiently while sinful men were doing evil things against him. Look at Jesus’ example so that you will not get tired and stop trying.
God Is Like a Father
4 You are struggling against sin, but your struggles have not yet caused you to be killed. 5 You have forgotten his encouraging words for his sons:
“My son, don’t think the Lord’s discipline of you is worth nothing.
And don’t stop trying when the Lord corrects you.
6 The Lord corrects those he loves.
And he punishes everyone he accepts as his child.” Proverbs 3:11-12
7 So accept your sufferings as if they were a father’s punishment. God does these things to you as a father punishing his sons. All sons are punished by their fathers. 8 If you are never punished (and every son must be punished), you are not true children and not really sons. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who punished us. And we respected our fathers. So it is even more important that we accept punishment from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth punished us for a short time. They punished us the way they thought was best. But God punishes us to help us, so that we can become holy as he is. 11 We do not enjoy punishment. Being punished is painful at the time. But later, after we have learned from being punished, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.
Be Careful How You Live
12 You have become weak. So make yourselves strong again. 13 Keep on the right path so the weak will not stumble but rather be strengthened.
14 Try to live in peace with all people. And try to live lives free from sin. If anyone’s life is not holy, he will never see the Lord. 15 Be careful that no one fails to get God’s grace. Be careful that no one becomes like a bitter weed growing among you. A person like that can ruin all of you. 16 Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin. And be careful that no person is unholy like Esau. He sold all his rights as the oldest son for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing. He wanted this blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change what he had done.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.