Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 15
A Psalm of David.
1 Lord, who will abide in Your tabernacle?
Who will dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
and does righteousness,
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 he who does not slander with the tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor bears a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
he who swears to avoid evil
and does not change;
5 he who does not put his money out to usury,
nor take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be moved.
15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of testimony in his hand. The tablets were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.”
18 But he said:
“It is not the sound of those who shout for victory,
nor is it the sound of those who cry because of being overcome,
but I hear the sound of singing.”
19 As soon as he came near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, so he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the bottom of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”
22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know that the people are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us which will go before us, for this Moses, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and then I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.’ ”
25 Now when Moses saw the people were in a frenzy, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies, 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered themselves together around him.
27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28 The Levites did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people died that day. 29 For Moses had said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow a blessing on you this day, for every man opposes his son and his brother.”
30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin, and now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin and have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 Yet now, if You will, forgive their sin, but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
33 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 So go now, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Indeed, My angel will go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord plagued the people because they had made the calf, the one that Aaron made.
Poverty and Riches
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, 10 but the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a burning heat and it withers the grass, and its flowers fall, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man wither away in his ways.
Trial and Temptation
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. 14 But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. 15 Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.