Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.
96 (A)Sing to the Lord a (B)new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
(C)Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of (D)His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For (E)great is the Lord and (F)greatly to be praised;
He is to be (G)feared (H)above all gods.
5 For (I)all the gods of the peoples are [a]idols,
But (J)the Lord made the heavens.
6 (K)Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 [b]Ascribe to the Lord, O (L)families of the peoples,
[c](M)Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 [d]Ascribe to the Lord the (N)glory of His name;
Bring an [e](O)offering and come into His courts.
9 (P)Worship the Lord in [f]holy attire;
(Q)Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “(R)The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the (S)world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will (T)judge the peoples with [g]equity.”
11 Let the (U)heavens be glad, and let the (V)earth rejoice;
Let (W)the sea [h]roar, and [i]all it contains;
12 Let the (X)field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the (Y)trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, (Z)for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(AA)He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.
20 It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. (A)None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
21 (B)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to (C)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 (D)rest of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your [a]relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, (E)for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.
Jeroboam’s Idolatry
25 Then (F)Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived [b]there. And he went out from there and built (G)Penuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 (H)If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king [c]consulted, and (I)made two golden (J)calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; (K)behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set (L)one in (M)Bethel, and the other he put in (N)Dan. 30 Now (O)this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 And (P)he made houses on high places, and (Q)made priests from among [d]all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam [e]instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, (R)like the feast which is in Judah, and he [f]went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel (S)the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 Then he [g]went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had [h](T)devised [i]in his own heart; and he [j]instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and [k]went up to the altar (U)to burn [l]incense.
11 Therefore, knowing the (A)fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are (B)made manifest also in your consciences. 12 We are not (C)again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an (D)occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we [a]are (E)beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ (F)controls us, having concluded this, that (G)one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer (H)live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one [b](I)according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ [c]according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is (J)in Christ, [d]he is (K)a new creature; (L)the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
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