Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Moses' Intercession

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, ^(A)you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ^(B)‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please ^(C)show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is ^(D)your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, ^(E)“My presence will go with you, and ^(F)I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, ^(G)“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? ^(H)Is it not in your going with us, ^(I)so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, ^(J)for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please ^(K)show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, ^(L)“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And ^(M)I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for ^(N)man shall not see me and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a ^(O)cleft of the rock, and I will ^(P)cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall ^(Q)not be seen.”

The Lord Our God Is Holy

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the ^(B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^(C)Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

^2 (D)We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly^{[a] (E)}mentioning you in our prayers, ³ remembering before ^(F)our God and Father ^(G)your work of faith and labor of ^(H)love and ^(I)steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, ^(J)brothers^[b] loved by God, ^(K)that he has chosen you, ⁵ because ^(L)our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and ^(M)in the Holy Spirit and with full ^(N)conviction. You know ^(O)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And ^(P)you became imitators of us ^(Q)and of the Lord, for ^(R)you received the word in much affliction, ^(S)with the ^(T)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord ^(U)sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth ^(V)everywhere, so that we need not say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^(W)reception we had among you, and how ^(X)you turned to God ^(Y)from idols to serve the living and ^(Z)true God, ¹⁰ and ^(AA)to wait for his Son ^(AB)from heaven, ^(AC)whom he raised from the dead, Jesus ^(AD)who delivers us from ^(AE)the wrath to come.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^15 (A)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how ^(B)to entangle him in his words. ¹⁶ And they sent ^(C)their disciples to him, along with ^(D)the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, ^(E)we know that you are true and teach ^(F)the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for ^(G)you are not swayed by appearances.^{[a] 17} Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay ^(H)taxes to ^(I)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why ^(J)put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.^{[b] 20} And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, ^(K)“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²² When they heard it, they marveled. And they ^(L)left him and went away.