Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.
A Psalm of David. A [a]Maskil.
32 (A)How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord (B)does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is (C)no deceit!
3 When (D)I kept silent about my sin, (E)my [b]body wasted away
Through my [c](F)groaning all day long.
4 For day and night (G)Your hand was heavy upon me;
My [d](H)vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. [e]Selah.
5 I (I)acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I (J)did not hide;
I said, “(K)I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You (L)forgave the [f]guilt of my sin. Selah.
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [g](M)in a time when You may be found;
Surely (N)in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are (O)my hiding place; You (P)preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with [h](Q)songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will (R)instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you (S)with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be (T)as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the (U)sorrows of the wicked,
But (V)he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be (W)glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are (X)upright in heart.
Cain and Abel
4 Now the man [a]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to [b]Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a [c]manchild with the help of the Lord.” 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And (A)Abel was (B)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 So it came about [d]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. 4 (C)Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And (D)the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but (E)for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So (F)Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “(G)Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 (H)If you do well, [e]will not your countenance be lifted up? (I)And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, (J)but you must master it.” 8 Cain [f]told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and (K)killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “(L)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 He said, “What have you done? (M)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. 11 Now (N)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 (O)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; (P)you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 Behold, You have (Q)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and (R)I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and (S)whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him (T)sevenfold.” And the Lord [g](U)appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence (V)of the Lord, and [h]settled in the land of [i]Nod, east of Eden.
14 Therefore, since we have a great (A)high priest who has (B)passed through the heavens, Jesus (C)the Son of God, let us hold fast our (D)confession. 15 For we do not have (E)a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been (F)tempted in all things as we are, yet (G)without sin. 16 Therefore let us (H)draw near with (I)confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest (J)taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in (K)things pertaining to God, in order to (L)offer both gifts and sacrifices (M)for sins; 2 [a](N)he can deal gently with the (O)ignorant and (P)misguided, since he himself also is [b](Q)beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices (R)for sins, (S)as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And (T)no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even (U)as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ (V)did not glorify Himself so as to become a (W)high priest, but He who (X)said to Him,
“(Y)You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;
6 just as He says also in another passage,
7 [c]In the days of His flesh, [d](AB)He offered up both prayers and supplications with (AC)loud crying and tears to the One (AD)able to save Him [e]from death, and He [f]was heard because of His (AE)piety. 8 Although He was (AF)a Son, He learned (AG)obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made (AH)perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as (AI)a high priest according to (AJ)the order of Melchizedek.
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