Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Davidic instruction.[a]
The Blessings of Forgiveness
32 How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 How blessed is the person against whom the Lord does not charge iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent about my sin,[b]
my body[c] wasted away
by my groaning all day long.
4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
my strength was exhausted
as in a summer drought.
5 My sin I acknowledged to you;
my iniquity I did not hide.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave the guilt of my sin!
6 Therefore every godly person should pray to you at such a time.[d]
Surely a flood of great waters will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will deliver me from trouble
and surround me with shouts of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you
concerning the path you should walk;
I will direct you with my eye.
9 Don’t be like a horse or mule,
without understanding.
They are held in check by a bit and bridle in their mouths;
otherwise they will not remain near you.
10 The wicked have many sorrows,
but gracious love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11 Righteous ones, be glad in the Lord and rejoice!
Shout for joy, all of you who are upright in heart!
The Tablets of the Law Replaced
34 The Lord told Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I’ll write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets that you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning on Mount Sinai, where you are to present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come up with you, nor is anyone to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Also, the sheep and cattle are not to graze in front of that mountain.”
4 So Moses[a] carved out two stone tablets like the first ones, got up early in the morning, and climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him. He took with him the two stone tablets. 5 The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed the name of the Lord.[b] 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord God,
compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger,
and filled with[c] gracious love and truth.
7 He graciously loves thousands,
and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.
But he does not leave the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of the ancestors on their children,
and on their children’s children
to the third and fourth generation.”
8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and prostrated himself in worship. 9 He said, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, Lord, please, Lord, walk among us. Certainly this is an obstinate people, but pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your own inheritance.”
27 Then the Lord told Moses, “Write down these words, because I’m making a covenant with you and with Israel according to these words.”
28 While Moses[a] was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, he did not eat or drink.[b] He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.
10 “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, because I tell you, their angels in heaven always have access to my Father in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man came to save the lost.”[a]
The Parable about the Faithful Shepherd(A)
12 “What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep and one of them strays, he leaves the 99 in the hills and goes to look for the one that has strayed, doesn’t he? 13 If he finds it, I tell all of you[b] with certainty that he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that haven’t strayed. 14 In the same way, it is not the will of your[c] Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”
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