Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Noah and the Great Flood
9 This is the family history of Noah. Noah was a good man. He was the most innocent man of his time. He walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 People on earth did what God said was evil. Violence was everywhere. 12 And God saw this evil. All people on the earth did only evil. 13 So God said to Noah, “People have made the earth full of violence. So I will destroy all people from the earth. 14 Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with tar. 15 This is how big I want you to build the boat: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. 16 Make an opening around the top of the boat. Make it 18 inches high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an upper, middle and lower deck in it. 17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth. I will destroy all living things that live under the sky. This includes everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die. 18 But I will make an agreement with you. You, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will all go into the boat. 19 Also, you must bring into the boat two of every living thing, male and female. Keep them alive with you. 20 There will be two of every kind of bird, animal and crawling thing. They will come to you to be kept alive. 21 Also gather some of every kind of food. Store it on the boat as food for you and the animals.”
22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.
24 And the waters continued to cover the earth for 150 days.
14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “You and your wife, your sons and their wives should go out of the boat. 17 Bring every animal out of the boat with you—the birds, animals and everything that crawls on the earth. Let them have many young ones and let them grow in number.”
18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 Every animal, everything that crawls on the earth and every bird went out of the boat. They left by families.
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A song of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We will not fear even if the oceans roar and foam,
or if the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river which brings joy to the city of God.
This is the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble, and kingdoms shake.
God shouts, and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
He has done amazing things on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations.
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
16 I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is the power God uses to save everyone who believes—to save the Jews first, and then to save the non-Jews. 17 The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God’s way of making people right with him begins and ends with faith. As the Scripture says, “The person who is made right with God by faith will live forever.”[a]
22 God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all are the same. 23 All people have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory. 24 People are made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25 God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith. And all of this is because of the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair. God was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 26 And God gave Jesus to show today that God does what is right. God did this so that he could judge rightly and also make right any person who has faith in Jesus.
27 So do we have a reason to brag about ourselves? No! And why not? It is the way of faith that stops all bragging, not the way of following the law. 28 A person is made right with God through faith, not through what he does to follow the law.
29 Is God only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the non-Jews? 30 Of course he is, for there is only one God. He will make Jews right with him by their faith. And he will also make non-Jews right with him through their faith. 31 So do we destroy the law by following the way of faith? No! Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants.
21 “Not everyone who says ‘You are my Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do the things that my Father in heaven wants. 22 On the last day many people will say to me, ‘You are our Lord! We spoke for you. And through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ 23 Then I will tell them clearly, ‘Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.’
Two Kinds of People
24 “Everyone who hears these things I say and obeys them is like a wise man. The wise man built his house on rock. 25 It rained hard and the water rose. The winds blew and hit that house. But the house did not fall, because the house was built on rock. 26 But the person who hears the things I teach and does not obey them is like a foolish man. The foolish man built his house on sand. 27 It rained hard, the water rose, and the winds blew and hit that house. And the house fell with a big crash.”
28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the people were amazed at his teaching. 29 Jesus did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like a person who had authority.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.