Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Bless the Maker of Heaven and Earth
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to Your Name be the glory—
because of Your love and Your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say:
“Where is their God now?”
3 Our God is in the heavens—
He does whatever pleases Him!
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak;
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear;
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel;
feet, but cannot walk,
nor utter a sound with their throat.
8 Those making them will become like them
—everyone trusting in them.
9 O Israel, trust in Adonai—
He is their help and their shield!
10 O house of Aaron, trust in Adonai—
He is their help and their shield!
11 O you who fear Adonai, trust in Adonai—
He is their help and their shield!
12 Adonai has been mindful of us,
He will bless:
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron;
13 He will bless those who fear Adonai,
the small together with the great.
14 May Adonai increase you more and more
—you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the heavens of Adonai,
but the earth He gave to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise Adonai,
nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we—we will bless Adonai
both now and forever. Halleluyah!
5 Again Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among Bnei-Yisrael and ceremonially cleanse them. 7 This is what you must do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle the purifying water on them,[a] then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, thus purifying themselves.
8 “Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, plus a second young bull for a sin offering. 9 Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting, and gather the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael. 10 Bring the Levites before Adonai, Bnei-Yisrael will lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron will present the Levites before Adonai as a wave offering from Bnei-Yisrael. Then they may go about the work of the service of Adonai.
12 “The Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls. Use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to Adonai to make atonement for the Levites. 13 Have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and present them as a wave offering to Adonai. 14 In this way you are to set apart the Levites from Bnei-Yisrael to be Mine. 15 After you have purified them and presented them as a wave offering, the Levites will come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. 16 For they are the ones from among Bnei-Yisrael given to Me in place of all the first from the wombs of Bnei-Yisrael. I have taken them for Myself.
17 “For every firstborn among Bnei-Yisrael is Mine, whether human or animal. On the day I struck down the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. [b] 18 So I am taking the Levites in place of the firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael, 19 and I am giving the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among Bnei-Yisrael, to do the work on behalf of Bnei-Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for them—so that there would be no plague among them for coming too close to the Sanctuary.”
20 So Moses, Aaron and the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael did so with the Levites. All that Adonai had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so Bnei-Yisrael did to them. 21 The Levites also purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes. Aaron presented them as a wave offering before Adonai, and, he made atonement for them to purify them. 22 After that, the Levites came to do their tasks before Aaron and his sons in the Tent of Meeting, just as Adonai had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.
Greetings
1 Paul, a slave of God and an emissary of Messiah Yeshua, for the faith of God’s chosen and the knowledge of truth that is in keeping with godliness, 2 based on the hope of eternal life. God—who cannot lie[a]—promised this before the beginning of time. 3 But in His own time He made His message known, through a proclamation with which I was entrusted, by the command of God our Savior.
4 To Titus, a true child of our common faith:
Grace and shalom from God the Father and Messiah Yeshua, our Savior!
Setting the Community in Order
5 The reason I left you in Crete was so that you would set in order the things that remain and appoint elders in every city as I directed you— 6 if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children of faith with no charge of wild living or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be blameless as God’s administrator—not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, upright, devout, disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message in keeping with the teaching, so he can both encourage by instruction that is sound and convict those who speak against it.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.