Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Heathen Idols Contrasted with the Lord.
115 (A)Not to us, Lord, not to us,
But (B)to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy, because of Your [a]truth.
2 (C)Why should the nations say,
“(D)Where, then, is their God?”
3 But our (E)God is in the heavens;
He (F)does whatever He pleases.
4 Their (G)idols are silver and gold,
The (H)work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they (I)cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
7 [b]They have hands, but they cannot feel;
[c]They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
8 (J)Those who make them [d]will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
9 (K)Israel, (L)trust in the Lord;
He is their (M)help and their shield.
10 House of (N)Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who [e](O)fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord (P)has been mindful of us; He will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will (Q)bless those who [f]fear the Lord,
(R)The small together with the great.
14 May the Lord (S)increase you,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed of the Lord,
(T)Maker of heaven and earth.
Cleansing the Levites
5 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and (A)cleanse them. 7 This is what you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle [a]purifying (B)water on them, and have them [b](C)use a razor over their whole [c]body, and they shall (D)wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8 Then have them take a [d]bull with (E)its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and you shall take a second [e]bull as a sin offering. 9 So (F)you shall present the Levites in front of the tent of meeting. (G)You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, 10 and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel (H)shall lay their hands on the Levites. 11 Aaron then shall [f]present the Levites before the Lord as a (I)wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may [g]qualify to perform the service of the Lord. 12 Now (J)the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then you are to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 “So you shall single out the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and (K)the Levites shall be Mine. 15 Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and (L)present them as a wave offering; 16 for they are (M)exclusively given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself (N)instead of the firstborn of every womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. 17 For (O)every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the people and among the animals; on the day that I fatally struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself. 18 But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. 19 And (P)I have given the Levites as [h]a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no (Q)affliction among the sons of Israel due to [i]their approaching the sanctuary.”
20 So this is what Moses, Aaron, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel did to the Levites; according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses regarding the Levites, so the sons of Israel did to them. 21 (R)The Levites, too, purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes; and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 Then after that the Levites went in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; just as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Salutation
1 Paul, (A)a bond-servant of God and an (B)apostle of Jesus Christ, [a]for the faith of those (C)chosen of God and (D)the knowledge of the truth which is (E)according to godliness, 2 in (F)the hope of eternal life, which God, (G)who cannot lie, (H)promised [b](I)long ages ago, 3 but (J)at the proper time revealed His word in (K)the proclamation (L)with which I was entrusted (M)according to the commandment of (N)God our Savior;
4 To (O)Titus, (P)my true [c]son [d]in a (Q)common faith: (R)Grace and peace from God the Father and (S)Christ Jesus our Savior.
Qualifications of Elders
5 For this reason I left you in (T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and (U)appoint (V)elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, (W)if any man is beyond reproach, the (X)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of (Y)indecent behavior or (Z)rebellion. 7 For the [e](AA)overseer must be beyond reproach as (AB)God’s steward, not (AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not (AD)overindulging in wine, not [f]a bully, (AE)not greedy for money, 8 but (AF)hospitable, (AG)loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined, 9 (AH)holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to [g]exhort in (AI)sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.
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