Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God makes his people strong[a]
112 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
When someone respects the Lord with fear,
God has blessed that person!
He is happy to obey the Lord's commands.
2 His children will become powerful in the land.
God will bless their descendants who serve him.
3 His family will have valuable things,
and they will be rich.
People will always remember
the good things that they have done.
4 God's light shines on those who serve him,
even when they are in a dark place.
God blesses those who are kind to others,
and who do what is right and fair.
5 People who are kind and lend money to others,
and who work in an honest way,
will enjoy a good life.
6 Righteous people will never fail.
People will always remember them.
7 They are not afraid to hear bad news.
They are brave,
because they trust in the Lord.
8 Their thoughts are strong
and they will not be afraid.
They know that they will win against their enemies.
9 They give their things to help poor people.
People will always remember
the good things that they have done.
They will be powerful
and people will respect them.
10 When wicked people see this,
they will be angry.
They will show their teeth in anger,
but then they will disappear.
Whatever wicked people want,
they will never get it.
God's covenant with his people
4 Israel's people, listen to the rules and laws that I will now teach you. If you obey them, you will live. You will go into the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving to you. The land will belong to you, for you to live in. 2 Do not add anything to these rules. Do not remove anything from them. You must obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving to you.
3 You saw for yourselves what the Lord your God did at Baal-Peor. He killed every person among you who worshipped Baal there.[a] 4 But each of you who continued to trust the Lord your God is still alive today.
5 Look! I have taught you rules and laws, as the Lord my God told me to do. Now you must obey them when you go into the land where you will live. 6 Obey them carefully. That will show people of other nations that you are wise. They will hear about all your laws. Then they will say, ‘The people of this great nation are very wise and clever!’
7 No other nation has a god who is near to them like the Lord our God. Even great nations have no god like that. But when we pray to the Lord our God, he listens! 8 And no other great nation has rules and laws that are as fair as ours. That is God's Law that I am giving to you today.
9 But be very careful! Never forget the things that you yourselves have seen. Remember these things for as long as you live. Tell your children and your grandchildren about all the things that God has done.
10 Remember when you stood in front of the Lord your God at Sinai. He said to me, ‘Bring all the people here to me so that I can tell them my commands. Then they will learn to respect me and obey me. They will do this for as long as they live and they will teach my commands to their children.’ 11 At that time, you came and you stood at the edge of the mountain. You saw that the fire on the mountain reached up to the sky. But the sky was full of black clouds and it was dark. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire. You heard him as he spoke, but you did not see him. You only heard a voice. 13 He told you about his covenant and the ten commands that he wrote on two flat pieces of stone. He commanded you to obey them. 14 At that time, the Lord commanded me to teach you his rules and his laws. You must obey them in the land that you will now go in to live there.
Believe in Jesus Christ
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is God's Messiah has become a child of God. And if we love God, our Father, we will love his other children too. 2 How do we know that we love God's children? We know it when we love God and we do what he tells us to do. 3 Because, if we really love God, we will obey his commands. And those commands are not difficult for us to obey. 4 Because we have become God's children, we can live in a good way. We can refuse to live like people who belong to this world. We are able to win against the wrong ways of this world because we trust Jesus Christ. 5 It is only people who believe that Jesus is the Son of God who can do that. Only they can win against the wrong ways of this world.
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