Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
49 Remember the word ⌞you gave⌟ me.
Through it you gave me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my misery:
Your promise gave me a new life.
51 Arrogant people have mocked me with cruelty,
yet I have not turned away from your teachings.
52 I remembered your regulations from long ago, O Lord,
and I found comfort ⌞in them⌟.
53 I am burning with anger because of wicked people,
who abandon your teachings.
54 Your laws have become like psalms to me
in this place where I am only a foreigner.
55 At night I remember your name, O Lord,
and I follow your teachings.
56 This has happened to me
because I have obeyed your guiding principles.
The Ten Commandments(A)
5 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Israel, listen to the laws and rules I’m telling you today. Learn them and faithfully obey them.
2 The Lord our God made a promise [a] to us at Mount Horeb. 3 He didn’t make this promise to our ancestors, but to all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 I stood between the Lord and you to tell you the Lord’s word, because you were afraid of the fire and didn’t go up on the mountain. The Lord said:
6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
7 “Never have any other gods. 8 Never make your own carved idols or statues that represent any creature in the sky, on the earth, or in the water. 9 Never worship them or serve them, because I, the Lord your God, am a God who does not tolerate rivals. I punish children for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. 10 But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.
11 “Never use the name of the Lord your God carelessly. The Lord will make sure that anyone who uses his name carelessly will be punished.
12 “Observe the day of rest as a holy day. This is what the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You have six days to do all your work. 14 The seventh day is the day of rest—a holy day dedicated to the Lord your God. You, your sons, your daughters, your male and female slaves, your oxen, your donkeys—all of your animals—even the foreigners living in your city must never do any work ⌞on that day⌟. In this way your male and female slaves can rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring you out of there. This is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the day of rest as a holy day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live for a long time, and things will go well for you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “Never murder.
18 “Never commit adultery.
19 “Never steal.
20 “Never avoid the truth when you testify about your neighbor.[b]
21 “Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife away from him.
“Never long for your neighbor’s household, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.”
4 You are coming to Christ, the living stone who was rejected by humans but was chosen as precious by God. 5 You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ. 6 That is why Scripture says,
“I am laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion,
and the person who believes in him
will never be ashamed.”
7 This honor belongs to those who believe. But to those who don’t believe:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,
8 a stone that people trip over,
a large rock that people find offensive.”
The people tripped over the word because they refused to believe it. Therefore, this is how they ended up.
9 However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not God’s people, but now you are. Once you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.
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