Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down from this mountain. Your people, the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, have done a terrible sin. ⁸ They have quickly turned away from the things I commanded them to do. They have made for themselves a calf of melted gold. They have worshiped that calf and offered sacrifices to it. The people have said, ‘Israel, these are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.’”

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen these people. I know that they are very stubborn people. ¹⁰ So now do not stop me. I am so angry with them that I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you and your descendants a great nation.”

¹¹ But Moses begged the Lord his God. Moses said, “Lord, don’t let your anger destroy your people. You brought these people out of Egypt with your great power and strength. ¹² Don’t let the people of Egypt say, ‘The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But he planned to kill them in the mountains and destroy them from the earth.’ So stop being angry. Don’t destroy your people. ¹³ Remember the men who served you—Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You promised with an oath to them. You said, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised them. It will be theirs forever.’” ¹⁴ So the Lord changed his mind. He did not destroy the people as he had said he might.

A Prayer for Forgiveness

For the director of music. A song of David when the prophet Nathan came to David after David’s sin with Bathsheba.

Thanks for God’s Mercy

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. And he gives me strength. ¹³ In the past I spoke against Christ and persecuted him and did all kinds of things to hurt him. But God showed mercy to me because I did not know what I was doing. I did those things when I did not believe. ¹⁴ But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me. And with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the worst of those sinners. ¹⁶ But I was given mercy. I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. And he showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. Christ wanted me to be an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever. ¹⁷ Honor and glory to the King that rules forever! He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen.

A Lost Sheep and a Lost Coin

15 Many tax collectors and “sinners” came to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain: “Look! This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!”

³ Then Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but he loses 1 of them. Then he will leave the other 99 sheep alone and go out and look for the lost sheep. The man will keep on searching for the lost sheep until he finds it. ⁵ And when he finds it, the man is very happy. He puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. He calls to his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you there is much joy in heaven when 1 sinner changes his heart. There is more joy for that 1 sinner than there is for 99 good people who don’t need to change.

⁸ “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins,^[a] but she loses one of them. She will light a lamp and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. ⁹ And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, there is joy before the angels of God when 1 sinner changes his heart.”