Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Call to Praise God

149 Praise the Lord! Sing a new song to the Lord! Praise Him in the meeting of His people. ² Let Israel be glad in his Maker. Let the sons of Zion be full of joy in their King. ³ Let them praise His name with dancing. Let them sing praises to Him with timbrels and a harp. ⁴ For the Lord is happy with His people. He saves those who have no pride and makes them beautiful.

⁵ Let those who are God-like be full of joy and honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds. ⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and in their hand a sword that cuts both ways. ⁷ Let it be used to punish the nations and the people. ⁸ Let their kings be tied in chains, and their rulers with ropes of iron. ⁹ Let the punishment that is written be given to them. This is an honor for all His faithful ones. Praise the Lord!

Animals Owned by Egyptians Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ² For if you will not let them go, and still hold them, ³ the hand of the Lord will come with a very bad disease on your animals in the field: on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the cattle and the flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will divide the animals of Israel from the animals of Egypt. So nothing will die of all that belongs to the people of Israel.”’” ⁵ The Lord made a time for this, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶ So the Lord did this on the next day. All the animals of Egypt died. But not one of the animals died that belonged to the people of Israel. ⁷ Pharaoh learned that not one of the animals of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard. He did not let the people go.

¹¹ I have been making a fool of myself talking like this. But you made me do it. You should be telling what I have done. Even if I am nothing at all, I am not less important than those false missionaries of yours. ¹² When I was with you, I proved to you that I was a true missionary. I did powerful works and there were special things to see. These things were done in the strength and power from God. ¹³ What makes you feel less important than the other churches? Is it because I did not let you give me food and clothing? Forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴ This is the third time I am ready to come to you. I want nothing from you. I want you, not your money. You are my children. Children should not have to help care for their parents. Parents should help their children. ¹⁵ I am glad to give anything I have, even myself, to help you. When I love you more, it looks as if you love me less.

¹⁶ It is true that I was not a heavy load to you. But some say I set a trap for you. ¹⁷ How could I have done that? Did I get anything from you through the men I sent to you? ¹⁸ I asked Titus and the other Christian brother to visit you. Did Titus get anything from you? Did we not do things that showed we had the same desires and followed the same plan?

¹⁹ It may look to you as if we had been trying to make everything look right for ourselves all this time. God knows and so does Christ that all this is done to help you. ²⁰ I am afraid that when I visit you I will not find you as I would like you to be. And you will not find me as you would like me to be. I am afraid I will find you fighting and jealous and angry and arguing and talking about each other and thinking of yourselves as being too important and making trouble. ²¹ I am afraid when I get there God will take all the pride away from me that I had for you. I will not be happy about many who have lived in sin and done sex sins and have had a desire for such things and have not been sorry for their sins and turned from them.