Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise to the Lord for His Fidelity to Israel.
99 The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble [with submissive wonder]!
He sits enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
2
The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is exalted and magnified above all the peoples.
3
Let them [reverently] praise Your great and awesome name;
Holy is He.(A)
4
The strength of the King loves justice and righteous judgment;
You have established fairness;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob (Israel).
5
Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His footstool;
Holy is He.
6
Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They kept His testimonies
And the statutes that He gave them.(B)
8
You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil practices.
9
Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill [Zion, the temple mount],
For the Lord our God is holy.
Murmuring and Plague
41 But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.” 42 When the congregation was assembled against Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), and behold, the cloud covered it and the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), 44 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 45 “Get away from among this congregation, so that I may consume them immediately.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces [in silence before the Lord]. 46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the Lord; the plague has begun!” 47 So Aaron took the burning censer as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had [already] begun among the people; and he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to an end. 49 But those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), for the plague had been brought to an end.
7 The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.] 8 Above all, have [a]fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others].(A) 9 Be [b]hospitable to one another without complaint. 10 Just as each one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor]. 11 Whoever speaks [to the congregation], is to do so as one who speaks the oracles (utterances, the very words) of God. Whoever serves [the congregation] is to do so as one who serves by the strength which God [abundantly] supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified [honored and magnified] through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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