Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ט (Tet)
65 You are good[a] to your servant,
O Lord, just as you promised.[b]
66 Teach me proper discernment[c] and understanding.
For I consider your commands to be reliable.[d]
67 Before I was afflicted I used to stray off,[e]
but now I keep your instructions.[f]
68 You are good and you do good.
Teach me your statutes.
69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies,[g]
but I observe your precepts with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are calloused,[h]
but I find delight in your law.
71 It was good for me to suffer,
so that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law you have revealed is more important to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.[i]
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord[a] and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the special curtain[b] in front of the atonement lid[c] that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement lid.
Day of Atonement Offerings
3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary—with a young bull[d] for a sin offering[e] and a ram for a burnt offering.[f] 4 He must put on a holy linen tunic,[g] linen leggings are to cover his body,[h] and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash[i] and wrap his head with a linen turban.[j] They are holy garments, so he must bathe[k] his body in water and put them on. 5 He must also take[l] two male goats[m] from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
The Live Goat Ritual Procedures
20 “When Aaron[a] has finished purifying the Holy Place,[b] the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins,[c] and thus he is to put them[d] on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready.[e] 22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land,[f] so he is to send the goat away[g] into the desert.
The Concluding Rituals
23 “Aaron must then enter[h] the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. 24 Then he must bathe his body in water in the Holy Place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement[i] on behalf of himself and the people.[j]
25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering[k] in smoke on the altar, 26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel[l] must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the Holy Place, must be brought outside the camp[m] and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up,[n] 28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
The Withered Fig Tree
18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 After noticing a fig tree[a] by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” 21 Jesus[b] answered them, “I tell you the truth,[c] if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe,[d] you will receive.”
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