Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Prayer of an Innocent Person[a]
17 Listen, O Lord, to my plea for justice;
pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to my honest prayer.
2 You will judge in my favor,
because you know what is right.
3 You know my heart.
You have come to me at night;
you have examined me completely
and found no evil desire in me.
I speak no evil,
4 as others do;
I have obeyed your command
and have not followed paths of violence.
5 I have always walked in your way
and have never strayed from it.
6 I pray to you, O God, because you answer me;
so turn to me and listen to my words.
7 Reveal your wonderful love and save me;
at your side I am safe from my enemies.
8 Protect me as you would your very eyes;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the attacks of the wicked.
Deadly enemies surround me;
13 (A)But Moses replied, “When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ So what can I tell them?”
14 (B)God said, “I am who I am. You must tell them: ‘The one who is called I Am[a] has sent me to you.’ 15 Tell the Israelites that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name forever; this is what all future generations are to call me. 16 Go and gather the leaders of Israel together and tell them that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you. Tell them that I have come to them and have seen what the Egyptians are doing to them. 17 I have decided that I will bring them out of Egypt, where they are being treated cruelly, and will take them to a rich and fertile land—the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
18 “My people will listen to what you say to them. Then you must go with the leaders of Israel to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has revealed himself to us. Now allow us to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’ 19 I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced to do so. 20 But I will use my power and will punish Egypt by doing terrifying things there. After that he will let you go.
The Question about Jesus' Authority(A)
20 One day when Jesus was in the Temple teaching the people and preaching the Good News, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, together with the elders, came 2 and said to him, “Tell us, what right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Now let me ask you a question. Tell me, 4 did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?”
5 They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we say, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered, “We don't know where it came from.”
8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”
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.