Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Power over the Earth
97 The Lord rules. Let the earth be full of joy. Let the many islands be glad. 2 Clouds and darkness are all around Him. His throne is built upon what is right and fair. 3 Fire goes before Him and burns up those who hate Him on every side. 4 His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and shakes. 5 The mountains melt like a candle before the Lord, before the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens tell about how right and good He is. And all the people see His shining-greatness.
7 Let all those who serve false gods be ashamed, those who talk about how great their gods are. Worship Him, all you gods! 8 Zion heard this and was glad. The people of Judah have been full of joy because of what You decide, O Lord. 9 For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth. You are honored above all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate what is bad. For He keeps safe the souls of His faithful ones. He takes them away from the hand of the sinful. 11 Light is spread like seed for those who are right and good, and joy for the pure in heart. 12 Be glad in the Lord, you who are right and good. Give thanks to His holy name.
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two stone writings of the Law in his hand. The stones were written on both sides, on one side and the other. 16 The stone writings were God’s work. The writing was God’s writing cut into the stones. 17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they made noise, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war at the tents.” 18 But Moses said, “It is not the sound of winning, or the sound of losing. It is the sound of singing I hear.” 19 As soon as Moses came near the tents, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He threw the stone writings from his hands and broke them at the base of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it with fire, ground it to dust, spread it over the top of the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you to make you bring such great sin upon them?” 22 Aaron said, “Do not let my lord be angry. You know the people yourself and how sinful they are.
23 They said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go in front of us. For we do not know what has become of Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”
25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people go wild and become a shame to those who hated them. 26 So Moses stood in the gate of the place where they had set up their tents and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi came together around him. 27 He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh. And go from one end of the tents to the other, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses said. About 3,000 men fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Today you have set yourselves apart for the Lord. For each man has been against his son and against his brother, so the Lord may bring good to you today.”
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned. Now I am going up to the Lord. It might be that I can have your sin forgiven.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O, this people have sinned. They have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if You will, forgive their sin. If not, then take my name out of Your book which You have written.” 33 The Lord said to Moses, “I will put out of My book whoever has sinned against Me. 34 But go now. Lead the people where I told you. See, My angel will go before you. But in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 Then the Lord sent trouble upon the people, because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
17 Dear friends, you must remember the words spoken by the missionaries of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said, “In the last days there will be men who will laugh at the truth and will be led by their own sinful desires.” 19 They are men who will make trouble by dividing people into groups against each other. Their minds are on the things of the world because they do not have the Holy Spirit.
20 Dear friends, you must become strong in your most holy faith. Let the Holy Spirit lead you as you pray. 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God. Wait for life that lasts forever through the loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 Have loving-kindness for those who doubt. 23 Save some by pulling them out of the fire. Have loving-kindness for others but also fear them. Be afraid of being led into doing their sins. Hate even the clothes that have touched sinful bodies.
24 There is One Who can keep you from falling and can bring you before Himself free from all sin. He can give you great joy as you stand before Him in His shining-greatness. 25 He is the only God. He is the One Who saves from the punishment of sin through Jesus Christ our Lord. May He have shining-greatness and honor and power and the right to do all things. He had this before the world began, He has it now, and He will have this forever. Let it be so.
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