Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A maskil by Asaph.
78 Open your ears to my teachings, my people.
Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth to illustrate points.
I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
3 things that we have heard and known about,
things that our parents have told us.
4 We will not hide them from our children.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s power and great deeds
and the miraculous things he has done.
5 He established written instructions for Jacob’s people.
He gave his teachings to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to make them known to their children
6 so that the next generation would know them.
Children yet to be born ⌞would learn them⌟.
They will grow up and tell their children
7 to trust God, to remember what he has done,
and to obey his commands.
Six Cities of Refuge
20 The Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Now choose for yourselves the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses. 3 Choose them so that anyone who unintentionally kills someone may run to them. They will be a place of refuge from any relative who can avenge the death.
4 “ ‘A person who kills someone accidentally can run to one of these cities. There he will stand at the entrance to the city, where court is held, and present his case to the leaders of that city. Then they will take him into their city and give him a place to live with them.
5 “ ‘If the relative who can avenge the death pursues him, the leaders must not hand him over to the relative because he didn’t intend to kill the other person. He didn’t even hate the person he killed. 6 The accused person may remain in that city until he can stand trial in front of the congregation or until whoever is chief priest at that time dies. Then he may go back to his home in the city from which he ran away.’ ”
7 Kedesh in Galilee in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (now called Hebron) in the mountains of Judah were chosen as cities of refuge. 8 Bezer on the desert plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh were chosen as cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan River, east of Jericho.
9 These are the cities chosen as cities of refuge for all Israelites, including the foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may escape to these cities. Then he will not be handed over to the relative who can avenge a death before he stands trial in front of the congregation.
Jesus Teaches His Disciples on the Mount of Olives(A)
24 As Jesus left the temple courtyard and was walking away, his disciples came to him. They proudly pointed out to him the temple buildings. 2 Jesus said to them, “You see all these buildings, don’t you? I can guarantee this truth: Not one of these stones will be left on top of another. Each one will be torn down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the sign that you are coming again, and when will the world come to an end?”
4 Jesus answered them, “Be careful not to let anyone deceive you. 5 Many will come using my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many people.
6 “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come. 7 Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All of these are only the beginning pains ⌞of the end⌟.
9 “Then they will hand you over to those who will torture and kill you. All nations will hate you because you are committed to me. 10 Then many will lose faith. They will betray and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 And because there will be more and more lawlessness, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved.
14 “This Good News about the kingdom will be spread throughout the world as a testimony to all nations. Then the end will come.
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