Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 115(A)
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto Your name give glory,
for the sake of Your mercy, and for the sake of Your truth.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where now is their God?”
3 But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but they cannot feel;
feet, but they cannot walk;
neither can they speak with their throat.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so is everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord 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 bless those who fear the Lord,
both the small and great ones.
14 The Lord shall increase you more and more,
you and your children.
15 You are blessed of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
Consecrating the Levites
5 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. 7 Thus you will do to them to cleanse them: Splash purifying water on them, and let them shave their whole body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. 8 Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering, also fine flour mixed with oil, and you will take another young bull as a sin offering. 9 You will bring the Levites before the tent of meeting. And you will gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together. 10 And you will bring the Levites before the Lord. And the children of Israel will put their hands on the Levites. 11 And Aaron will offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering of the children of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord.
12 The Levites will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you will offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites. 13 You will set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord. 14 Thus will you separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites will be Mine.
15 And afterwards the Levites will go in to do the service of the tent of meeting, and you will cleanse them and offer them as a wave offering. 16 For they are completely set aside for Me by the children of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them for Myself. 17 For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are Mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. 18 I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. 19 I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to serve the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting and to make an atonement for the children of Israel, so there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel approach the sanctuary.
20 Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel did to the Levites; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. 21 The Levites cleansed themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and before his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Salutation
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which leads to godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began, 3 and has in due time revealed His word through preaching, with which I was entrusted according to the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my own son in the common faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus’ Work in Crete
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I commanded you: 6 any man who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children who are not accused of being wild or unruly. 7 For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not easily angered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, self-controlled, just, holy, temperate, 9 holding firmly the trustworthy word that is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to convince those who oppose it.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.