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 always make fun of me,
but I do not reject your teachings.
52 I remember your laws from long ago,
and they comfort me, Lord.
53 I become angry with wicked people
who do not keep your teachings.
54 I sing about your demands
wherever I live.
55 Lord, I remember you at night,
and 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 am giving 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, but he made it with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between you and the Lord in order to tell 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 or anything to worship that looks like something 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, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. If people sin against me and hate me, I will punish their children, even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 10 But I will be very kind for a thousand lifetimes to those who love me and obey my commands.
11 “You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly, because the Lord will punish anyone who uses his name in this way.
12 “Keep the Sabbath as a holy day, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 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, your male or female slaves, your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, or the foreigners living in your cities. That way your servants may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there 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 as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live a long time, and things will go well for you in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.
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.
21 “You must not want to take your neighbor’s wife. You must not want to take your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female slaves, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
4 Come to the Lord Jesus, the “stone”[a] that lives. The people of the world did not want this stone, but he was the stone God chose, and he was precious. 5 You also are like living stones, so 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,
“the stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
8 Also, he is
“a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.” Isaiah 8:14
They stumble because they do not obey what God says, which is what God planned to happen to them.
9 But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. You were chosen to tell about the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 At one time you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. In the past you had never received mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.