Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Praise

95 Come, let us sing with joy to the Lord. Let us sing loud with joy to the rock Who saves us. ² Let us come before Him giving thanks. Let us make a sound of joy to Him with songs. ³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. ⁴ The deep places of the earth are in His hand. And the tops of the mountains belong to Him. ⁵ The sea is His, for He made it. And His hands made the dry land.

⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us get down on our knees before the Lord Who made us. ⁷ For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand. If you hear His voice today, ⁸ do not let your hearts become hard as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert. ⁹ Your early fathers put Me to the test and tried Me. But they had seen the work I did. ¹⁰ I was angry with the people of that day for forty years. I said, “They always think wrong thoughts. And they do not know My ways.” ¹¹ I was angry with them and said, “They will never go into My rest.”

⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the people of Israel, ‘Come near to the Lord, for He has heard your complaining.’” ¹⁰ When Aaron spoke to all the people of Israel, they looked toward the desert. And they saw in the cloud the shining-greatness of the Lord. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ In the evening quails came and covered the place where the people were staying. And in the early morning a little water was around the tents. ¹⁴ When the water had gone, there were small white pieces all over the ground of the desert. ¹⁵ When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has told you to do: ‘Every man gather as much of it as he can eat. Take a jar for every person that each of you has in his tent.’” ¹⁷ The people did so. Some gathered much and some less. ¹⁸ When they saw how much they had, he who had gathered much had no more than what was needed. And he who had gathered less had enough. Every man gathered as much as he could eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one save any of it until morning.” ²⁰ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until morning. And worms grew in it and it became bad to eat. So Moses was angry with them. ²¹ Morning after morning they gathered it, every man as much as he could eat. But when the sun became hot, it would melt.

Followers Now Become the Body of Christ

¹¹ Do not forget that at one time you did not know God. The Jews, who had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew by man’s hands, said you were people who do not know God. ¹² You were living without Christ then. The Jewish people who belonged to God had nothing to do with you. The promises He gave to them were not for you. You had nothing in this world to hope for. You were without God.

¹³ But now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him. Christ did this for you when He gave His blood on the cross. ¹⁴ We have peace because of Christ. He has made the Jews and those who are not Jews one people. He broke down the wall that divided them. ¹⁵ He stopped the fighting between them by His death on the cross. He put an end to the Law. Then He made of the two people one new kind of people like Himself. In this way, He made peace. ¹⁶ He brought both groups together to God. Christ finished the fighting between them by His death on the cross. ¹⁷ Then Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to you who were far away from God. And He preached it to us who were near God. ¹⁸ Now all of us can go to the Father through Christ by way of the one Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ From now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family. ²⁰ This family is built on the teachings of the missionaries and the early preachers. Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building. ²¹ Christ keeps this building together and it is growing into a holy building for the Lord. ²² You are also being put together as a part of this building because God lives in you by His Spirit.