Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
(A special psalm by Asaph.)
What God Has Done for His People
1 My friends, I beg you
to listen as I teach.
2 (A) I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3 These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4 and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the Lord.
13 (C) God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14 (D) He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15 (E) God made water flow
from rocks he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16 He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
Water from a Rock
20 The people of Israel arrived at the Zin Desert during the first month[a] and set up camp near the town of Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.
2 (A) The Israelites had no water, so they went to Moses and Aaron 3 and complained, “Moses, we'd be better off if we had died along with the others in front of the Lord's sacred tent.[b] 4 You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die! 5 Egypt was better than this horrible place. At least there we had grain and figs and grapevines and pomegranates.[c] But now we don't even have any water.”
6 Moses and Aaron went to the entrance to the sacred tent, where they bowed down. The Lord appeared to them in all of his glory 7-8 and said, “Moses, get your walking stick.[d] Then you and Aaron call the people together and command that rock to give you water. That's how you will provide water for the people of Israel and their livestock.”
9 Moses obeyed and took his stick from the sacred tent. 10 After he and Aaron had gathered the people around the rock, he said, “Look, you rebellious people, and you will see water flow from this rock!” 11 (B) He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised.”
13 The Israelites had complained against the Lord, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means “Complaining.”
32 God made a promise to our ancestors. And we are here to tell you the good news 33 (A) that he has kept this promise to us. It is just as the second Psalm says about Jesus,
“You are my son because today
I have become your Father.”
34 (B) God raised Jesus from death and will never let his body decay. It is just as God said,
“I will make to you
the same holy promises
that I made to David.”
35 (C) And in another psalm it says, “God will never let the body of his Holy One decay.”
36 When David was alive, he obeyed God. Then after he died, he was buried in the family grave, and his body decayed. 37 But God raised Jesus from death, and his body did not decay.
38 My friends, the message is that Jesus can forgive your sins! The Law of Moses could not set you free from all your sins. 39 But everyone who has faith in Jesus is set free. 40 Make sure what the prophets have said doesn't happen to you. They said,
41 (D) “Look, you people
who make fun of God!
Be amazed
and disappear.
I will do something today
that you won't believe,
even if someone
tells you about it!”
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.