Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant.
It gives me hope.
50 When I suffer, this comforts me:
Your promise gives me life.
51 Proud people make fun of me all the time.
But I do not reject your teachings.
52 I remember your laws from long ago.
They comfort me, Lord.
53 I become angry with wicked people.
They have not kept your teachings.
54 I sing about your demands
wherever I live.
55 Lord, I remember you at night.
I will obey your teachings.
56 This is what I do:
I follow your orders.
The Ten Commandments
5 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said: Listen, Israel, to the commands and laws I give you today. Learn them and obey them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made an agreement with us at Mount Sinai. 3 He did not make this agreement with our ancestors. He made it with us. He made it with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face. He spoke from the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between you and the Lord. I told you what the Lord said. You were afraid of the fire. So you would not go up on the mountain.) The Lord said:
6 “I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.
7 “You must not have any other gods except me.
8 “You must not make for yourselves any idols. Don’t make something that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. 9 You must not worship or serve any idol. This is because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. A person may sin against me and hate me. I will punish his children, even his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 10 But I will be very kind to thousands who love me and obey my commands.
11 “You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly. The Lord will punish anyone who is guilty and misuses his name.
12 “Keep the Sabbath as a holy day. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. 13 You may work and get everything done during six days each week. 14 But the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, or your men or women slaves. Neither your ox, your donkey nor any of your animals may work. The foreigners living in your cities may not work. That way your servants may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by his great power and strength. So the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. Then you will live a long time. And things will go well for you in the land. The Lord your God is going to give you this land.
17 “You must not murder anyone.
18 “You must not be guilty of adultery.
19 “You must not steal.
20 “You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court.
21 “You must not want to take your neighbor’s wife. You must not want to take your neighbor’s house or land. You must not want to take his men or women slaves. You must not want to take his ox or his donkey. You must not want to take anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
4 The Lord Jesus is the “stone”[a] that lives. The people of the world did not want this stone. But he was the stone God chose. To God he was worth much. So come to him. 5 You also are like living stones. Let yourselves be used to build a spiritual temple—to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. He will accept those sacrifices through Jesus Christ. 6 The Scripture says:
“I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem.
Everything will be built on this important and precious rock.
Anyone who trusts in him
will never be disappointed.” Isaiah 28:16
7 This stone is worth much to you who believe. But to the people who do not believe, he is
“the stone that the builders did not want.
It has become the cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
8 To people who do not believe, he is
“a stone that causes people to stumble.
It is a rock that makes them fall.” Isaiah 8:14
They stumble because they do not obey what God says. This is what God planned to happen to them.
9 But you are chosen people. You are the King’s priests. You are a holy nation. You are a nation that belongs to God alone. God chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 At one time you were not God’s people. But now you are his people. In the past you had never received mercy. But now you have received God’s mercy.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.