Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Giving Thanks to God
63 O God, You are my God. I will look for You with all my heart and strength. My soul is thirsty for You. My flesh is weak wanting You in a dry and tired land where there is no water. 2 So I have seen You in the holy place. And I have seen Your power and Your shining-greatness. 3 My lips will praise You because Your loving-kindness is better than life. 4 So I will give honor to You as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul will be filled as with rich foods. And my mouth praises You with lips of joy.
6 On my bed I remember You. I think of You through the hours of the night. 7 For You have been my help. And I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. 8 My soul holds on to You. Your right hand holds me up.
Men Sent to Spy out the Land
13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan which I am going to give to the people of Israel. Send a man from each of their fathers’ families, every one a leader among them.”
17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. He said to them, “Go up there into the Negev. Then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like. See if the people who live in it are strong or weak, and if they are few or many. 19 Find out if the land they live in is good or bad. See if the cities they live in are open or if they have walls. 20 Find out if the land is rich or poor, and if there are trees in it or not. Then try to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now this was the gathering time of the first grown grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron. Anak’s sons Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol. They cut down a branch from there with some grapes on it. And they carried it on a long piece of wood between two men, with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of much fruit the men of Israel cut down from there.
25 They returned from looking over the land after forty days. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the people of Israel in the desert of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought news to them and to all the people, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It does flow with milk and honey. This is its fruit. 28 But the people who live in the land are strong. The cities have walls and are very large. And we saw the children of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of the Negev. The Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites are living in the hill country. And the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb told the people in front of Moses to be quiet. And he said, “Let us go up at once and take the land. For we are well able to take it in battle.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go against the people. They are too strong for us.” 32 So they brought the people of Israel bad news about the land they had spied out, saying, “The land we have gone to spy out is a land that destroys those who go there to live. All the people we saw in it are very large. 33 We saw the Nephilim there. (The sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim.) We looked like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
The People Complain
14 Then all the people cried out with a loud voice, and they cried that night. 2 All the people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this desert! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to be killed by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be taken away. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of all the gathering of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh tore their clothes. They were among those who had spied out the land. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we passed through to spy out is a very good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. It is a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not go against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land. For they will be our food. They have no way to keep safe, and the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Jesus Tells of His Death the Second Time (A)
22 While they were still in Galilee, Jesus said to the followers, “The Son of Man will be handed over to men. 23 They will kill Him, but He will be raised from the dead three days later.” The followers were very sad.
24 They came to the city of Capernaum. Those who gathered the tax for the house of God came to Peter. They said, “Does not your Teacher pay tax money for the house of God?” 25 Peter said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first. He said, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of this earth get their money or taxes, from their own people or from those of another country?” 26 Peter said to Him, “From those of another country.” Then Jesus said, “Then their own people do not pay taxes. 27 But so we will not make them to be troubled, go down to the lake and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up. In its mouth you will find a piece of money. Take that and pay the tax for Me and yourself.”
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