Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 96(A)
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song;
sing unto the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
declare His salvation from day to day.
3 Proclaim His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O families of the people,
give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Indeed, the world is established; it shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field be joyful, and all that is in it;
then all the trees of the forests shall rejoice
13 before the Lord, for He comes,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him before the congregation and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
21 When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah along with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying: 23 Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 “Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers the children of Israel. Every man is to return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” They listened therefore to the word of the Lord and turned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.
Jeroboam’s Golden Calves
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and lived there and went out from there and built Peniel.
26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “The kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 At that point, the king got some advice and made two golden calves and said to the people, “It is too difficult for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 He set one in Bethel, and he put the other in Dan. 30 This was a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even all the way in Dan.
31 He also made houses on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast in Judah, and he offered sacrifice on the altar. He did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a holiday he imagined in his own heart, and ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and he sacrificed on the altar and burned incense.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are revealed to God, and I trust we are also revealed in your consciences. 12 For we are not commending ourselves again to you. Instead, we give you occasion to boast on our behalf, that you may have something to answer those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge: that if one died for all, then all have died. 15 And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16 So from now on we do not regard anyone according to the flesh. Yes, though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet we do not regard Him as such from now on. 17 Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.