Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Saved Israel from Egypt
A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
78 My people, ·listen [give ear] to my ·teaching [instruction; law];
·listen [L incline your ear] to ·what I say [L the words of my mouth].
2 I will ·speak [L open my mouth] ·using stories [L with a proverb/parable];
I will ·tell [expound] ·secret things [L riddles] from long ago [C the past contains lessons for the present generation].
3 We have heard them and known them
by what our ·ancestors [fathers] have ·told [recounted to] us.
4 We will not ·keep [hide] them from our children;
we will ·tell [recount them to] ·those who come later [a later generation]
about the praises of the Lord.
We will tell about his power
and the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he has done.
5 The Lord ·made an agreement [established a decree/testimony] with Jacob
and gave the ·teachings [instructions; laws] to Israel [Ex. 19–24],
which he commanded our ·ancestors [fathers]
to ·teach [make known] to their children [Deut. 6:6–9, 20–22].
6 Then ·their children [L the later generation] would know them,
even their children not yet born.
And they would ·tell [L rise up and recount them to] their children.
7 So they would ·all trust [L place their trust/confidence in] God
and would not forget what he had done
but would ·obey [protect] his commands.
Cities of Safety
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to ·choose [designate] the special cities of ·safety [refuge], as I had Moses command you to do [Num. 35:1–8]. 3 If a person kills someone accidentally and without meaning to kill him, that person may go to a city of ·safety [refuge] to hide. There the killer will be safe from the ·relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer [near-relative; L avenger of blood].
4 “When the killer ·runs [flees] to one of those cities, he must stop at the entrance ·gate [L of the city gate], stand there, and tell the ·leaders of the people [L elders of that city] what happened [C the council of leaders met at the city gate and held trials there; Deut. 21:19; Ruth 4:1]. Then that person will be allowed to enter the city and will be given a place to live among them. 5 But if the ·one who is chasing him [near-relative; L avenger of blood] follows him to that city, ·the leaders of the city [L they] must not hand over the ·killer [manslayer]. It was an accident. He did not hate him beforehand or kill him on purpose. 6 ·The killer [L He] must stay in the city until ·a court comes to a decision [L he stands before the congregation for judgment] and until the high priest dies [Num. 35:25–28; C the high priest’s death may have marked a general amnesty]. Then he may go back home to the town from which he ran away.”
7 So the Israelites chose these cities to be cities of ·safety [refuge]: Kedesh in Galilee in the ·mountains [hill country] of Naphtali; Shechem in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim; Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the ·mountains [hill country] of Judah; 8 Bezer ·on the east side of the Jordan River near [L beyond the Jordan east of] Jericho in the ·desert [wilderness plain] in the land of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead in the land of Gad; and Golan in Bashan in the land of Manasseh. 9 Any Israelite or ·anyone living among them [resident alien; sojourner] who killed someone accidentally was to be allowed to run to one of these cities of ·safety [refuge]. There he would not be killed, before he ·was judged [L stood before the congregation], by the ·relative who had the duty of punishing a murderer [near-relative; L avenger of blood].
The Temple Will Be Destroyed(A)
24 As Jesus left the Temple [courts] and was walking away, his ·followers [disciples] came up to ·show [point out to] him the Temple’s buildings. 2 Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. Every stone will be ·thrown [pulled; torn] down.”
3 Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his ·followers [disciples] came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign ·that it is time for you to come again [of your coming/return] and ·for this age to end [the end/consummation of the age]?”
4 Jesus answered, “·Be careful [Watch out] that no one ·fools [misleads; deceives] you. 5 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the ·Christ [Messiah],’ and they will ·fool [mislead; deceive] many people. 6 You will hear about wars and ·stories of wars that are coming [rumors/reports of wars], but don’t be ·afraid [alarmed]. These things must happen ·before the end comes [or but that is not yet the end]. 7 Nations will ·fight [L rise up] against other nations, and kingdoms against other kingdoms. There will be ·times when there is no food for people to eat [famines], and there will be earthquakes in ·different [various] places. 8 All these things are ·like the first pains when something new is about to be born [L the beginning of the birth pains].
9 “Then people will arrest you, hand you over to be ·hurt [persecuted; tortured], and kill you. ·They [The world; L All nations] will hate you because ·you believe in me [you follow me; L of my name]. 10 At that time, many will ·lose their faith [turn/fall away], and they will ·turn against [betray] each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will ·come [appear; arise] and ·cause many people to believe lies [deceive many]. 12 There will be more and more ·evil [sin; lawlessness] in the world, so ·most people will stop showing their love for each other [L the love of many/most will grow cold]. 13 But those people who ·keep their faith [endure; stand firm; persevere] until the end will be saved. 14 ·The Good News [This Gospel] about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, [L as a testimony] to every nation. Then the end will come.
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