Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 81
If Only
Heading
For the choir director. According to gittith.[a] By Asaph.
Invitation to Worship
1 Sing a loud song to God, our strength.
Shout to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, and play the hand drum.
Play the sweet-sounding lyre along with the harp.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the new moon
and at the full moon for our festival day.
4 Yes, this is an order for Israel,
a regulation from the God of Jacob.
5 God established it as a testimony for Joseph
when he went out against the land of Egypt.
There I heard a language I did not know.[b]
A Warning From the Lord
6 The Lord says:
I relieved Israel’s shoulders from the burden.
His hands were set free from carrying buckets.
7 In distress you called and I rescued you.
I answered you from the hiding place of thunder. Interlude
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
If only you would listen to me, Israel!
9 There shall be no foreign god among you!
You shall not bow down to a strange god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
The Calendar of Holy Times
23 The Lord told Moses 2 to speak to the Israelites and to tell them this:
These are the appointed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. These are my appointed times:
The Sabbath
3 On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It shall be a sabbath to the Lord in all the places you live.
4 These are the appointed times of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
The Festival of Passover
5 The first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover, 6 and the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. 7 On the first day a holy convocation is to be proclaimed for you. You shall not do any work in your regular occupation. 8 You shall present an offering by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be proclaimed as a holy convocation. You shall not do any work for your regular occupation.
Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love
31 What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus,[a] who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written:
For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.[b]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors[c] through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.