Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God’s Chosen One Will Rule

2 Why are the nations so shaken up and the people planning foolish things? ² The kings of the earth stand in a line ready to fight, and all the leaders are against the Lord and against His Chosen One. ³ They say, “Let us break their chains and throw them away from us.”

⁴ He Who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord makes fun of them. ⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger and make them afraid, saying, ⁶ “But as for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy mountain.” ⁷ I will make known the words of the Lord. He said to Me, “You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father. ⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for you to own. The ends of the earth will belong to You. ⁹ You will break them using a piece of iron. And they will be broken in pieces like pots of clay.”

¹⁰ So, kings, be wise. Listen, you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear, and be full of joy as you shake in fear. ¹² Kiss the Son. Be afraid that He may be angry and destroy you in the way. For His anger is quick. Happy are all who put their trust in Him.

God Calls Moses

² God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. ³ I showed Myself as God All-powerful to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I did not make Myself known to them by My name, the Lord. ⁴ I also made My agreement with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they were strangers. ⁵ I have heard the crying of the people of Israel, because they are being held by the Egyptians. And I have remembered My agreement. ⁶ So say to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord. I will take you away from the hard work and suffering in Egypt. I will take you away from being their servants. I will make you free by the strength of My arm and by the great things I will do to punish the guilty. ⁷ Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God. And you will know that I am the Lord your God. I will bring you out from under the heavy loads of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you to the land I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will give it to you for your own. I am the Lord.’” ⁹ So Moses said this to the people of Israel. But they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and how hard they were made to work.

8 Now the important thing is this: We have such a Religious Leader Who has made the way for man to go to God. He is the One Who sits at the right side of the All-powerful God in the heavens. ² He is the Religious Leader of that holy place in heaven which is the true place of worship. It was built by the Lord and not by men’s hands. ³ Every religious leader of the Old Way of Worship had the work of killing animals and of giving gifts on the altar to God. So Christ had to have something to give also. ⁴ If Christ were on the earth, He would not be a religious leader such as these. The religious leaders on earth give gifts like the Law says. ⁵ Their work shows us only a picture of the things in heaven. When Moses was putting up the tent to worship in, God told him, “Be sure you make the tent for worship like I showed you on Mount Sinai.” ^(A)

⁶ But Christ has a more perfect work. He is the One Who goes between God and man in this new and better way. The New Way of Worship promises better things. ⁷ If the Old Way of Worship had been perfect, there would have been no need for another one.