Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Love of God[a]
103 Praise the Lord, my soul!
All my being, praise his holy name!
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and do not forget how kind he is.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He keeps me from the grave
and blesses me with love and mercy.
5 He fills my life[b] with good things,
so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.
6 The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed
and gives them their rights.
7 He revealed his plans to Moses
and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.
8 (A)The Lord is merciful and loving,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
The Man Who Broke the Sabbath
32 Once, while the Israelites were still in the wilderness, a man was found gathering firewood on the Sabbath. 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community, 34 and was put under guard, because it was not clear what should be done with him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him to death outside the camp.” 36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord had commanded.
Rules about Tassels
37 The Lord commanded Moses 38 (A)to say to the people of Israel: “Make tassels on the corners of your garments and put a blue cord on each tassel. You are to do this for all time to come. 39 The tassels will serve as reminders, and each time you see them you will remember all my commands and obey them; then you will not turn away from me and follow your own wishes and desires. 40 The tassels will remind you to keep all my commands, and you will belong completely to me. 41 I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”
3 Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up. 4 For in your struggle against sin you have not yet had to resist to the point of being killed. 5 (A)Have you forgotten the encouraging words which God speaks to you as his children?
“My child, pay attention when the Lord corrects you,
and do not be discouraged when he rebukes you.
6 Because the Lord corrects everyone he loves,
and punishes everyone he accepts as a child.”
7 Endure what you suffer as being a father's punishment; your suffering shows that God is treating you as his children. Was there ever a child who was not punished by his father? 8 If you are not punished, as all his children are, it means you are not real children, but bastards. 9 In the case of our human fathers, they punished us and we respected them. How much more, then, should we submit to our spiritual Father and live! 10 Our human fathers punished us for a short time, as it seemed right to them; but God does it for our own good, so that we may share his holiness. 11 When we are punished, it seems to us at the time something to make us sad, not glad. Later, however, those who have been disciplined by such punishment reap the peaceful reward of a righteous life.
Instructions and Warnings
12 (B)Lift up your tired hands, then, and strengthen your trembling knees! 13 (C)Keep walking on straight paths, so that the lame foot may not be disabled, but instead be healed.
14 Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it. 15 (D)Guard against turning back from the grace of God. Let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison. 16 (E)Let no one become immoral or unspiritual like Esau, who for a single meal sold his rights as the older son. 17 (F)Afterward, you know, he wanted to receive his father's blessing; but he was turned back, because he could not find any way to change what he had done, even though in tears he looked for it.[a]
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.