Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 20

For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.

Offerings for the Tabernacle^(A)

25 The Lord said to Moses: ² Tell the children of Israel to bring Me an offering. From every man who gives willingly with his heart you shall receive My offering. ³ This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁴ blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, ⁶ oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

⁸ Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture—you shall make it just so.

The Ark of the Covenant^(B)

¹⁰ They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.^{[a] 11} You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out shall you overlay it, and you shall make a gold border around it. ¹² You shall cast four gold rings for it and put them on the four feet with two rings on the one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵ The poles must remain in the rings of the ark. They must not be removed from it. ¹⁶ You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

¹⁷ You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. ¹⁸ You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end. From the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim on its two ends. ²⁰ The cherubim shall stretch forth their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another. The faces of the cherubim are to face toward the mercy seat. ²¹ You shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. ²² I will meet with you there, and I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony. I will speak with you all that I will command you for the children of Israel.

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 Brothers, when I came to you, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. ⁴ My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The Revelation by God’s Spirit

⁶ Yet we speak wisdom among those who are mature, although not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age knew it. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But as it is written,

¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.

For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.