Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
(By David.)
The Lord's Wonderful Love
1 With all my heart
I praise the Lord,
and with all that I am
I praise his holy name!
2 With all my heart
I praise the Lord!
I will never forget
how kind he has been.
3 The Lord forgives our sins,
heals us when we are sick,
4 and protects us from death.
His kindness and love
are a crown on our heads.
5 Each day that we live,[a]
he provides for our needs
and gives us the strength
of a young eagle.
6 For all who are mistreated,
the Lord brings justice.
7 He taught his Law to Moses
and showed all Israel
what he could do.
8 (A) The Lord is merciful!
He is kind and patient,
and his love never fails.
A Man Put to Death for Gathering Firewood on the Sabbath
32 Once, while the Israelites were traveling through the desert, a man was caught gathering firewood on the Sabbath.[a] 33 He was taken to Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. 34 But no one knew what to do with him, so he was not allowed to leave.
35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people to take that man outside the camp and stone him to death!” 36 So he was killed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Tassels on the People's Clothes
37 The Lord told Moses 38 (A) to say to the people of Israel, “Sew tassels onto the bottom edge of your clothes and tie a blue string to each tassel. 39-40 These will remind you that you must obey my laws and teachings. And when you do, you will be dedicated to me and won't follow your own sinful desires. 41 I am the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt.”
3 So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won't get discouraged and give up.
4 None of you have yet been hurt[a] in your battle against sin. 5 (A) But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God's children,
“When the Lord punishes you,
don't make light of it,
and when he corrects you,
don't be discouraged.
6 The Lord corrects the people
he loves
and disciplines those
he calls his own.”
7 Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don't all parents correct their children? 8 God corrects all his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then you don't really belong to him. 9 Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn't it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?
10 Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. 11 It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace.
12 (B) Now stand up straight! Stop your knees from shaking 13 (C) and walk a straight path. Then lame people will be healed, instead of getting worse.
Warning against Turning from God
14 Try to live at peace with everyone! Live a clean life. If you don't, you will never see the Lord. 15 (D) Make sure no one misses out on God's wonderful kindness. Don't let anyone become bitter and cause trouble for the rest of you. 16 (E) Watch out for immoral and ungodly people like Esau, who sold his future blessing[b] for only one meal. 17 (F) You know how he later wanted it back. But there was nothing he could do to change things, even though he begged his father and cried.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.