Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord Guards His People
A song for going up to worship.
121 I look up to the hills,
but where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you be defeated.
He who guards you never sleeps.
4 He who guards Israel
never rests or sleeps.
5 The Lord guards you.
The Lord is the shade that protects you from the sun.
6 The sun cannot hurt you during the day,
and the moon cannot hurt you at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all dangers;
he will guard your life.
8 The Lord will guard you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
14 “You are always to remember this day and celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on. 15 For this feast you must eat bread made without yeast for seven days. On the first day, you are to remove all the yeast from your houses. No one should eat any yeast for the full seven days of the feast, or that person will be cut off from Israel. 16 You are to have holy meetings on the first and last days of the feast. You must not do any work on these days; the only work you may do is to prepare your meals. 17 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your divisions of people out of Egypt. So all of your descendants must celebrate this day. This is a law that will last from now on. 18 In the first month of the year you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days there must not be any yeast in your houses. Anybody who eats yeast during this time, either an Israelite or non-Israelite, must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 During this feast you must not eat anything made with yeast. You must eat only bread made without yeast wherever you live.”
21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and told them, “Get the animals for your families and kill the lamb for the Passover. 22 Take a branch of the hyssop plant, dip it into the bowl filled with blood, and then wipe the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes. No one may leave that house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through Egypt to kill the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes, and he will pass over that house. He will not let the one who brings death come into your houses and kill you.
24 “You must keep this command as a law for you and your descendants from now on. 25 Do this when you go to the land the Lord has promised to give you. 26 When your children ask you, ‘Why are we doing these things?’ 27 you will say, ‘This is the Passover sacrifice to honor the Lord. When we were in Egypt, the Lord passed over the houses of Israel, and when he killed the Egyptians, he saved our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped the Lord. 28 They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
Live for God
11 Dear friends, you are like foreigners and strangers in this world. I beg you to avoid the evil things your bodies want to do that fight against your soul. 12 People who do not believe are living all around you and might say that you are doing wrong. Live such good lives that they will see the good things you do and will give glory to God on the day when Christ comes again.
Yield to Every Human Authority
13 For the Lord’s sake, yield to the people who have authority in this world: the king, who is the highest authority, 14 and the leaders who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 It is God’s desire that by doing good you should stop foolish people from saying stupid things about you. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Live as servants of God. 17 Show respect for all people: Love the brothers and sisters of God’s family, respect God, honor the king.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.